FORTALEZA, Brazil -- The Confederations Cup has got the final nearly everyone wanted. The World Cup holder against the five-time world champion. The two-time European winners against the tournament host. Spains passing wizards vs. Brazils new star, Neymar. Spain came through an exhausting scoreless 120 minutes and then a penalty-kick shootout 7-6 over Italy in the semifinal Thursday and will face Brazil in Rio de Janeiros Maracana Stadium on Sunday to cap the World Cup warm-up tournament. "I think everybody was waiting for this Confederations Cup final to be Spain vs. Brazil," Spain captain Iker Casillas said. "I think the two teams that deserve to play the final are actually playing it." Jesus Navas scored the decisive penalty kick after a draining match made more difficult by heat and thick humidity. Nobody missed in the shootout until Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci shot over the bar to give Navas an attempt at the winner. The recently signed Manchester City midfielder coolly beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to end a top-class battle and send Spain to another major final. While calling his squad "lucky" to win, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was not about to concede the final due to fatigue -- even though Spain has one less day of rest than Brazil, which beat Uruguay 2-1 Wednesday. "We have to now consider what we have to do in the three days to recover. And we will definitely stand up to Brazil in the Maracana," the manager said. "The players should feel just as happy as kids playing in the Maracana. They have won a lot, but they want to win in the Maracana. Italys Emanuele Giaccherini hit a post in the 93rd minute and Buffon deflected Xavi Hernandezs kick off a post in the 115th. Those were the best chances in extra time, and then came 12 perfect penalties before Bonucci missed. "We were lucky in the penalty shootout," Del Bosque said. "It was a very difficult match for us. ... It was a marvelous team effort by both teams. It was a clean and sporting match that was played under very difficult climatic conditions." Spain, winner of the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships, went second in the shootout. The 35-year-old Buffon and 32-year-old Casillas, among the worlds elite goalkeepers for more than a decade, exchanged handshakes with English referee Howard Webb before the shootout and then hugged each other. Antonio Candreva, Alberto Aquilani, Daniele De Rossi, Sebastian Giovinco, Andrea Pirlo and Riccardo Montolivo all converted their kicks for the Italians. Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Juan Mata and Sergio Busquets made their kicks for Spain. After Bonucci failed, Buffon dived to his right and Navas sent the kick past his outstretched arm. Spain beat Italy 4-0 in last years Euro final and defeated the Azzurri 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie in the 2008 Euro quarterfinals. "We played a great match. We created and we conceded, but we were always in the match," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "Theyre still ahead of us, but were improving. "In these conditions, between absences and fatigue, its nearly impossible to go all the way, but the guys really moved me." Italy, missing injured Mario Balotelli, dominated the first half. Spain, without injured Cesc Fabregas and Roberto Soldado, settled down and bolstered by the second-half insertion of Navas and Mata, wound up with 54 per cent possession and a 19-13 advantage in shots. Italy will face Uruguay in the third-place match in Salvador, also Sunday. Before kickoff, about 5,000 anti-government protesters battled police about 1 mile from the stadium. These were the latest in a series of nationwide protests that have hit Brazil since June 17. Demonstrators, expected to turn out again Sunday, are angered about corruption and poor public services despite a heavy tax burden. Protesters also are denouncing the billions of dollars spent to host the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Nike Air Force 1 Just Do It Italia . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Offerte Scarpe Nike Sb . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. http://www.airforce1justdoit.it/ . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Nike Presto x Off White Nere . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Nike Air Force 1 Ingrosso . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Rory McIlroy believes the spate of withdrawals from this summers Olympics is not embarrassing for golf because the Games do not represent the pinnacle of the sport.McIlroy, who will marry fiancée Erica Stoll next year, opted out of representing Ireland in Rio after citing his concerns over the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to defects in newborn babies and Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.World No.1 Jason Day and U.S. Open runner-up Shane Lowry also withdrew their names from consideration this week, joining a growing list of players which includes Australian pair Marc Leishman and Adam Scott, South African trio Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel and Fijis Vijay Singh. Graeme McDowell also made himself unavailable as his wife is due to give birth to their second child during the Games.Speaking ahead of the Open de France at Le Golf National, McIlroy was coincidentally forced to bat away an insect as he answered the first of several questions on the topic, including whether the number of withdrawals meant golf should not have returned to the Games for the first time since 1904.Thats not for me to say, the four-time major champion said. I wasnt a part of the process. The R&A and some of the other bodies that run our sport thought it was a great idea, and obviously it is, to try and get golf into different markets, and the Olympics is obviously a great platform to do that.Ive said to people I have four Olympic Games (major championships) a year. Thats my pinnacle. Thats what I play for. Thats what Ill be remembered for.Some people argue that it would have been better to send amateurs there, but the whole reason that golf is in the Olympics is because they wanted the best players to go and compete. But unfortunately with where it is this year, people just arent comfortable going down there and putting themselves or their family at risk.Id say if the Olympic Games were in most other cities or most other countries in the world this year, you wouldnt find as many people not wanting to go and participate.I dont think its embarrassing for the game because most other athletes dream their whole lives of competing in the Olympics, winning Olympic gold, and we havent. We dream of winning Claret Jugs and we dream of winning green jackets. Whether that makes golf look insular in any way ... its just the way it is.Although there is no vaccination for Zika, McIlroy recently had the others required to travel to Brazil and said in May he wanted to go and give it my best shot while he ddid not have a family.dddddddddddd The 27-year-old also said he did not want to let down Irelands golf captain Paul McGinley, whom he spoke to before announcing his withdrawal.That was probably one of the toughest phone calls Ive had to make, because weve talked about it so much, McIlroy added. Weve done so much work, got accommodation, got security down there, got a chef in, got everything planned out. I got my jabs; I had two dead shoulders for about four days.But then at the end of the day, if Im not 100 percent comfortable going down there, I just dont want to put it at risk. Theres another Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 and Im more than happy to wait until then to get that Olympic experience.Asked why none of the top female golfers had withdrawn despite the risks posed by Zika, McIlroy added: I guess some of the top women golfers might not have plans to have children in the next six months to a year. Youve got Shane [Lowry] who has just got married. Jason Day has a young family. Im getting married next year.I think you cant really compare apples-to-apples because were just in a different position than they are. Id say 90 percent of the athletes going to the Olympics are single and have no plans to start a family in the near future, whereas there are some golfers that are in that position and in that scenario.World No.2 Jordan Spieth said on Tuesday he was uncertain about playing in Rio, adding: Ive heard some stories on both sides about the security threats that Brazil and Rio have.Transportation is a big security issue down there, how to get from one place to another with the different kind of violence that we dont see here.Im going to get answers soon on how we plan to be secured down there. This is a personal safety decision which is going to outweigh any pressure that we feel [to compete].In contrast, Germanys Martin Kaymer is keen to compete in Rio and compared the Games to the Ryder Cup, only a lot bigger.He added: The Ryder Cup is a lot of passion and a lot of heart, but if you play for your country and you see the people from your country getting prepared for the Olympic Games, for their moment, that they prepared for four years. Thats super inspiring.In a selfish way, Im happy that they pulled out if it makes it easier for me to become a gold medal winner. But if you see the bigger picture , if no one goes this year and very little go in four years, the chance that we are going to compete [in 2024] is going to be slim. ' ' '