Johannesburg — MIGHTY Brazil destroyed world champions Italy 3-0 in Pretoria yesterday on a night of high drama in the 2009 Confederations Cup that saw Egypt crash out of the tournament -- after being humiliated by the same scoreline by the United States in Rustenberg -- with the Americans powering their way into the semi-finals.

The Samba Boys turned on the style with a three-goal blitz in the first half that squeezed life out of the Azzurri with Luis Fabiano scoring twice before Dossena sliced an own goal for the hapless Italians during a period when they were made to look ordinary.

But the real drama was in Rustenberg where the United States, who came into their match without a point and having conceded six goals in defeats at the hands of Brazil and Italy, somehow found the inspiration to turn it all around and destroy African champions Egypt 3-0.

That stunning result, and the 0-3 defeat by the Italians at the hands of Brazil, meant that the Americans -- against all odds -- squeezed into the last four by virtue of having scored more goals than the Azzurri with whom they shared a goal difference of minus two.

The Pharoahs ended their campaign bottom of the table with a minus three goal difference while Brazil easily won the group with a maximum nine points from three games and 10 goals to their credit.

The Brazilians will now meet South Africa in the semi-final while European champions Spain will take on the United States.

Italy ended up with a goal difference of minus two, having scored three and conceded five goals, with three of those goals coming at the hands of the irresistible Brazilians last night.

The Italians beat the United States 3-1 in their first match, lost 0-1 against Egypt and then slumped to yesterday's 0-3 defeat against Brazil.

The United States ended their group campaign with the same goal difference (minus two) as the Italians after having lost their first game 1-3, going down 0-3 in their next match before turning on the power to win 3-0 yesterday.

But, crucially, the Americans scored four goals (one against Italy and three against Egypt) while the Azzurri scored three goals -- all coming in their game against the United States.

Rules of the competition state that in the event of two teams finishing with the same number of points, the first determining factor is their overall goal difference, which in this case was similar (minus two).

Then then next factor to consider is the overall number of goals scored by the teams and, here,the Americans squeezed through by scoring four goals to three by the Italians.

How different it had looked before this dramatic night.

For many this looked like a straight contest for second place between Egypt and Italy, with both teams having three points going into yesterday's games, while Brazil had all but secured their ticket into the last four.

But football can sometimes be dramatic.

When Brazil turned on the power to take a 3-0 lead in the first half, the good money was on the Egyptians to join them even though the Pharaohs were down 0-1 in their match against the Americans at that point.

However, the script changed dramatically when the Americans scored twice in the second half and, for the better part of the last 20 minutes in both games, it became a case of any of the teams -- the USA, Italy and Egypt -- going through by getting just a goal.

To their credit the Italians tried their best and twice substitute Guiseppe Rossi fired from range only to be denied by Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar while, on the occasions that the Inter Milan 'keeper was beaten, his defence was there to provide the crucial block.

Had any of those chances gone in then it could have been a different story.

It was all happening in Rustenburg.

Goals from Charlie Davies, Michael Bradley and man-of-the-match Clint Dempsey fired the United States into one of their greatest victories and, incredibly, into the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.

The Pharaohs had a last-gasp chance to get a goal and squeeze into the semi-finals but the missed a great header and, with that, ended one of the most dramatic nights in the history of football.

Group B

P W D L F A Pts

Brazil 3 3 0 0 10 3 9

USA 3 1 0 2 4 6 3

Italy 3 1 0 2 3 5 3

Egypt 3 1 0 2 4 7 3