handedly kept both Italy and Brazil from reaching the semifinals of the Confederations Cup on Thursday by upsetting the world champion Italians 1-0. With the win at Ellis Park, the Egyptians also gave the United States a lifeline in Group B, even though the Americans were beaten 3-0 by Brazil in Pretoria. The group will now be settled on Sunday, when Italy faces Brazil in Pretoria and Egypt takes on the United States in Rustenburg. If the Brazilians record a third straight win in South Africa, either the Americans or Egyptians will likely sneak through to the next round at the expense of Italy. In Johannesburg, Egypt midfielder Mohamed Homos did some sneaking of his own, jumping higher than his markers to head in a corner from Mohamed Aboutrika in the 40th minute and give his team the only goal it needed. It was the second time in as many matches that the Italians trailed 1-0 at halftime, but this time they had no answers in the second 45 minutes. Giuseppe Rossi, who came off the bench to score two goals in the 3-1 win over the United States, started against Egypt in a revamped lineup but was replaced by Luca Toni in the 58th after an ineffective performance. “All the teams here are strong and you always need to play your best,” Italy coach Marcello Lippi said. “We tried some different things and it didn't go very well. We didn't do the things we trained to do.” Vincenzo Iaquinta had the best chances for Italy, but Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary stopped him three times in the second half to preserve the victory. Brazil, however, put on a much more impressive show than it did against pesky Egypt a few days ago, dominating the United States with an improved back line and a more potent attack. Felipe Melo scored the first goal for the five-time world champion with a header in the seventh minute, and Robinho made it 2-0 in the 20th by finishing off a counterattack that started from an American corner. Maicon started and ended the move that led to the third goal, finally lifting a deflected shot over United States goalkeeper Tim Howard. The Americans played most of the second half with 10 men because midfielder Sacha Kljestan was sent off in the 57th for a foul on Ramires. It was the second straight match in which the United States had a man red
