Pretoria - Brazil forgot the fatigue they said had dogged them in South Africa to race to a comfortable 3-0 victory over the United States at the Confederations Cup on Thursday.After a sloppy 4-3 win over Egypt in its opener on Monday, Brazil improved defensively and offensively to defeat the Americans at Loftus Versfeld. Coach Dunga brought in three fresh defenders to support captain Lucio in defence.The five-time world champions avoided giving spaces to the Americans at the back and created several dangerous scoring chances up front, with Maicon especially dangerous as an attacking wingback.Brazil pressured from the start and finished with 11 shots on target from 20 attempts and 59 percent of ball possession.Midfielder Felipe Melo put Brazil ahead and Robinho added a second before Maicon sealed the win with an angled shot in the 62nd minute.It was defensively that Brazil improved the most on Thursday and goalkeeper Julio Cesar barely touched the ball.The match against Egypt marked the first time Brazil conceded three goals since a World Cup qualifier against Argentina in 2005. The team had gone 57 matches without allowing that many goals in a match. Team officials blamed player fatigue on the mediocre performance against Egypt.Against the US, Dunga replaced right back Daniel Alves with Maicon, left back Kleber with Andre Santos and central defender Juan with Miranda.In addition to scoring Brazil's third goal, Maicon took the free kick that led to Felipe Melo's first goal. Ramires helped with passes in Robinho's and Maicon's goals.The victory moved Brazil to first place in Group B with six points from two matches all but securing the team a place in the semifinals of the eight-team Confederations Cup.
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