ATTERIDGEVILLE, South Africa — Brazil faces the United States on Thursday with a chance to virtually secure a semifinal berth at the Confederations Cup, while the Americans are hoping for an upset to get back into contention.

Brazil just beat Egypt with a last-minute penalty kick in its opener Monday, and another victory will all but secure the defending champions reach the next stage. The U.S. played well against World Cup champion Italy but lost 3-1 despite scoring first and another defeat will have the Americans checking flights for home.

Brazil is hoping to improve from its performance against Egypt, when it played just well enough to edge out the African champions 4-3 with a penalty converted by Kaka in the 90th minute.

The objective for the Brazilians against the U.S. will be to avoid the defensive blunders that allowed Egypt to score two goals one minute apart early in the second half Monday in Bloemfontein.

"We had a lapse in attention in the match against Egypt and that can't happen again," Brazil defender Juan said. "It should be a lesson for us. We need to be on the alert for the entire 90 minutes against the United States to avoid more surprises."

Brazil hadn't conceded three goals in a match since 2005 and the team is only too aware of its defensive problems.

"We need to have more attention back there, there's no doubt about that," said team captain Lucio, Brazil's central defender.

The Americans were on their way to an upset against Italy in Pretoria on Monday. Despite playing a man down from the 33rd minute because of a red card, Landon Donovan's penalty kick near the end of the first half gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead against the defending world champions, but Italy was able to come back with three second-half goals.

"Our goal has to be to get something (against Brazil), which is no easy task," said Donovan, who scored his American-record 40th international goal against the Italians. "We have to give everything now and hope we get something out of the game."

Despite not playing well in its opener, Brazil remains heavily favored against the Americans. In 14 matches between the nations, the Brazilians have won 13. Its only loss was a 1-0 result in 1998 in Los Angeles.

Brazil coach Dunga may make some changes to his lineup as players continue to complain of being tired because of recent World Cup qualifiers, long flights and the five-hour difference between South Africa and Brazil. Cynics might point out the U.S. has had a virtually identical build up.

AS Roma defender Juan is one of the players who has said he may need a break and could be rested by Dunga on Thursday. Dunga said others regular starters could be left out too.

Two Brazilian doctors were made available to talk to the media on Tuesday to explain why the players were so tired, reiterating that they didn't have enough time to get used to the time difference and that they were exhausted from the qualifiers Brazil played just before heading to South Africa.

"The best thing for the players right now is pajama training: rest, train with balance and eat well," team doctor Jose Luis Runco said.

Brazil and Italy lead Group B with three points each, with the United States and Egypt with zero. The top two teams from each of the two groups in the eight-team competition will reach the semifinals.

Brazil and Italy will face each other in the last group match on June 21 in Pretoria, while the United States meets Egypt in Rustenburg.

Brazil is trying to become the first nation to win three Confederations Cup titles, one more than France. Brazil also can join France as the only nation to win consecutive titles. The United States has never finished better than third at the Confederations Cup.

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