体坛英语新闻：U.S. books place in semi-final by beating Egypt 3-0 in Confederations Cup

RUSTENBURG, S. Africa, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The United States recovered on Sunday in its final group match of the Confederations Cup, thrashing African champions Egypt 3-0 to secure a slot in the semifinals.

    Before the match, Egypt stunned the soccer world by beating world champions Italy 1-0 and losing to South American power Brazil 4-3, while the U.S. suffered two consecutive defeats thus far.

    It was the first ever meeting of the two teams in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in the South African northern mining city of Rustenburg.

    The game, however, turned into a stage for the U.S. to showcase their quality as Charlie Davies opened the scoring in the 21st minute.

    After the interval, coach Bob Bradley's son Michael Bradley received the pass from teammate Clint Dempsey who cut the ball back inside, and shot it into the far corner of the net in the 63rd minute.

    The decisive goal came eight minutes later as Dempsey scored with a pinpoint downward header from a delivery out on the right wing.

    Egypt mounted a good spell of pressure at the start of the second half, but the United States resisted till the end.

    Egyptian defender Wael Gomaa swiftly tried to snatch back the semifinal berth with a header at the very end of the game. The ball, however, soared over the bar, taking away their hope.

    U.S. defender Jonathan Spector had been quoted as saying prior to the match that they would have to show up and give their best performance in the final group game. His words seemed to work.

    The victory earned the U.S. a slot of the semifinals after Group B leaders Brazil thrashed World Cup winners Italy 3-0 in Pretoria on the same day.

    The United States will meet Spain in the semifinals on Wednesday in the central South African city of Bloemfontein while Brazil will face hosts South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday.