Brazil through to Gold Cup final
In the eighth consecutive match to be decided by a single goal between the two nations, the US gave as good as they got in front of 35,000 fans at the Orange Bowl.
Bruce Arena's side took the lead through Carlos Bocanegra (pictured) in the 63rd minute - the Chicago Fire defender heading home from Claudio Reyna's cross.
It looked as though that goal would be enough to send the US through, but with a minute to go Brazilian Ewerthon broke into the box and forced a good save from Kasey Keller - the ball rebounding to Kaka, who slotted home to take the game into extra time.
Brazil won the match eight minutes into the extra period when Cory Gibbs was sent off for saving a goal-bound shot from Diego with his hand. The Brazilian stepped up to fire home the spot kick.
Arena was philosophical after the match and felt that his side had done themselves justice during the game.
He said: "Certainly fatigue was a factor. We ran out of gas. Give Brazil credit, they are an excellent team with outstanding attacking players.
"But I give my team credit as well, as we gave everything we had and just fell short."
The US will finish their 2003 Gold Cup campaign in the third place play-off match scheduled for Saturday at the Orange Bowl. They will face the loser of the Mexico versus Costa Rica semi-final to be played tonight (Thursday) in Mexico City.
