Dunga never doubted Brazil side could fight back to win

Published on Monday 29 June 2009 22:47

BRAZIL coach Dunga had no doubt his side could overcome a two-goal deficit against the United States to win the Confederations Cup in Johannesburg on Sunday night.

The South Americans were in all sorts of trouble less than half an hour into the final at Ellis Park thanks to goals from Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, and went into half-time trailing 2-0. But Luis Fabiano halved the deficit almost immediately after the break and then drew his side level with 16 minutes to play, before a late header from Lucio broke American hearts.

"To overcome a 2-0 deficit is never easy, but if you have committed players that never give up, you always have a chance," Dunga said after his team successfully defended the title they won in Germany four years ago.

Asked about his half-time team-talk, the 45-year-old said: "I said to them at half-time that something was lacking. A lack of good positioning, so we corrected that and we started pressurising our opponents."