The Confederations Cup finally roared to life today with a stunning 4-3 win in the Free State by Brazil against African champions Egypt. A thrilling, end-to-end match mercifully free of cynical fouling, this one was a great advertisment for top-level football, despite being played in front of a raft of empty seats.
   
Those vacant seats earned a stern rebuke from FIFA head Sepp Blatter, who attended today's early match in Bloemfontein. Speaking to reporters at a new conference prior to the game, Blatter blasted the organizers, saying ""There must be some action taken for the rest of the competition. To have half-empty stadiums is not FIFA. They have to do something about it."

The fans who did come to the half-full stadium had plenty to cheer about, however, as Egypt rebounded twice before falling to a late, but just, penalty kick sunk by new Real Madrid signing Kaka.

Any game with such reversals would arguably be an excellent one, but it was the way the teams played that truly deserves praise. Neither team went to ground, both favoring the upright, passing game that highlighted how smooth and sleek soccer can be when slide tackles and hard fouls are taken out of the equation.

Brazil, to be fair, came into the game needing nothing, and treated the match as if it was a friendly. Egypt, on the other hand, are struggling to qualify for 2010 and rose to the occasion, going to-to-toe with the best attacking team on the planet by utilizing a swift-moving, technically adept style of their own. Unusually, it was Egypt that often enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the match, and while Brazil ultimately wore down the Africans with their fine movement, this was anyone's game to win.

Brazil seemed to have run away with the game by halftime, jumping out to a 3-1 lead courtesy of Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Juan after exploiting the Egyptian defense's weakness on set pieces. Kaka opened the accounts after only four minutes with a piece of dazzling skill, looping the ball not once but twice over the heads of Hani Said and Wael Gomaa to blast one past helpless keeper Essam Al Hadari.

Egypt was unbowed, getting an answer only five minutes later thanks to Borussia Dortmund's Mohamed Zidan, who sprinted down the gut to collect a ball from the flank dished in by Mohamed Abo Terika to beat a late-arriving Dani Alves.

But two mistakes let Brazil back in swiftly. First, a foul by Ahmed Hassan allowed an Elano free kick to find Luis Fabiano in the 13th for a fine strike, and then Elano would help Juan net one in the 36th off a corner after Al Hadari was forced to make a sterling save off Dani Alves' free kick.

Egypt looked nervy at the start of the second, but found two minutes of brilliance to level the match. In the 54th, Middlebrough's Mohamed Shawki capitalized on good movement from his midfield to make it 3-2. And then, off the ensuing restart, Abo Terika managed to lift the ball to Zidan, who raced down to beat Julio Cesar cleanly and stun Dunga's men.

Sadly, Egypt could not hold the draw: In the 89th minute, , Ahmed Al Muhammadi was ejected after a clear handball to save a goal from Lucio. Kaka sunk the spot kick well, and despite a last flash by Egypt's Ahmed Eid, the result would stand.

This game might also provide a warning of how well African sides will perform in 2010 on their own home soil. Egypt, in this loss, looked like they could match up with anyone. If that attitude carries over, to the likes of the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal and, hopefully, the hosts, 2010 could be a radically different Cup from years past.

UPDATED: Egypt says it will lodge a protest over the pk call, saying it was determined by illegal video evidence.