Brazil clinches Copa America

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Brazil clinched its seventh Copa America title

BRAZIL beat Argentina 4-2 on penalties to win a thrilling Copa America final in Lima.

The world champions were on the verge of defeat after Cesar Delgado put the Argentines 2-1 ahead on 87 minutes. But Adriano's seventh goal of the competition in the third minute of injury time resulted in a shoot-out.

Brazil then converted their first four penalties to claim the trophy after Andres D'Alessandro and Gabriel Heinze had missed for Argentina. Juan scored the fourth and decisive Brazilian penalty, following solid conversions by Adriano, Edu and Diego.

Earlier, Argentina had opened the scoring with a 20th-minute penalty from Kily Gonzalez. But Brazil drew level on the stroke of half-time when centre-half Luisao, who had given away the earlier spot-kick, glanced home Alex's free- kick.

"We never thought it would be easy," said Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. "Argentina came with all these experienced players, but our team proved they are capable of overcoming any difficulties."

Argentina midfielder Javier Zanetti was almost lost for words after the defeat: "There are things that can't be explained in soccer," he said. "That's what happened against Brazil, we can't explain what went wrong."

Adriano's last-gasp strike in normal time denied Argentina victory and gave Brazil a lifeline. "I can't explain how I'm feeling right now," he said. "This is definitely the greatest moment in my career."