SOCCER Brazil overcomes U.S. in OT

Diego's penalty kick gave Brazil a 2-1 win in a Gold Cup semifinal.
MIAMI (AP) -- Five years ago, when the United States beat Brazil for the first time, Kasey Keller's spectacular saves and a second-half goal were the ingredients for a stunning upset.
The same formula nearly worked again on Wednesday. Keller was a wall, smothering point-blank Brazilian offerings and soaring to stop others. And when Carlos Bocanegra scored in the 62nd minute, the Americans appeared poised for another win.
But in the end, Brazil engineered a shocker of its own, scoring the tying goal in the 89th minute and beating the defending champion United States 2-1 on Diego's penalty kick in the 10th minute of overtime in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals.
"You can't give up a goal with two minutes to go," U.S. forward Landon Donovan said.
The United States, which has beaten Brazil just once in 12 games, took the lead on Bocanegra's header off Claudio Reyna's free kick.
Brazil gets equalizer
But Brazil, which sent its under-23 team to this tournament instead of its top players, got the equalizer after second-half substitute Ewerthon dribbled into the penalty area.
His shot was saved by Keller, but Kaka -- the only player on Brazil's roster with World Cup experience -- tapped in the rebound and forced overtime.
"I made the save, and it bounced right to him," Keller said. "It's a shame, and I think we pretty much knew at that point we were done."
Brazil, which plays Mexico or Costa Rica in Sunday's final, was awarded the penalty kick by Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres when Cory Gibbs used a hand to deflect away what would have been a certain goal by Diego, who had an open net to shoot at after Keller came off his line.
Diego delivers
With a pro-Brazil crowd of 35,211 cheering, Diego blasted the ball past Keller, who had been 18-0-4 over the last five years in U.S. home games.
"It was the only chance I had to prevent it," Gibbs said. "It was unfortunate that the referee caught it."
Keller finished with seven saves, four of which were made from point-blank range. He had 10 stops in the February 1998 win over Brazil, which also came in a Gold Cup semifinal match.
"The tank was empty," Keller said. "They're such a difficult team. They have so much individual skill that you have to chase them all over the field."
The Americans clearly tired late, playing in 84-degree heat and 80 percent humidity.
McBride injured
U.S. coach Bruce Arena used his first substitution in the 30th minute, when Clint Mathis came in for Brian McBride, who left with a cut over his left eye. Arena used his other two replacements late in the second half, and several American players were cramping in the final minutes.
"We debated whether to use the last change, because we thought that if we went into overtime, we'd have a problem," Arena said. "The decision was made because it was a 1-0 game, to give us some fresh legs and have a chance to finish the game."
Kaka's goal was the first allowed by the Americans in 600 minutes since Brazil's Adriano scored in a 1-0 win on June 21 at the Confederations Cup in France. It also stopped an 800-minute shutout streak for Keller in the Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
The United States next plays in Saturday's third-place game in Miami, probably the last time most top American players will be together before the start of World Cup qualifying in January.