JOHANNESBURG (AP)

Daniel Alves scored with two minutes left yesterday to give Brazil a 1-0 win over South Africa and a place in the Confederations Cup final against the United States.

South Africa had unsettled Brazil with a frantic hustling game of quick challenges and tight marking from a packed midfield and attentive defence, but the substitute right back curled in a shot from the edge of the area to give his team a chance of a record third title after Ramires tumbled right on the edge of the area under a challenge from South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena.

few opportunities

"The game was very closed so I put on a very quick player, a very aggressive player, who is strong on set pieces," Brazil coach Dunga said. "It was one of the few opportunities we were going to have. The foul was right in front of the goal area, so it was perfect for us."

South Africa had displayed far more energy and guile than Brazil and was denied a famous victory only by the lack of a finishing touch up front. But Brazil held on for a seventh straight win and a place in Sunday's final at Ellis Park against the United States, which upset European champion Spain 2-0 Wednesday.

"Maybe with a year's preparation, we can win a game like this against Brazil," South Africa coach Joel Santana said.

set piece

"You cannot make these mistakes. A set piece was enough to knock us out of the semi-finals."

With central defender Matthew Booth snuffing out almost every attempted attack from the wayward Luis Fabiano and ineffective Robinho, Brazil's best chances had been shots from Ramires, Andre Santos and Kaka that goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune easily saved.

Where almost everything Brazil attempted in its 3-0 win over worked, the ball inexplicably seemed to get stuck under the players' feet at Ellis Park.