Although the eyes of 200 million Brazilians were fixed on an evening final between the hosts and world champions Spain, Italian and Uruguayan fans converged on the northern city for the bronze medal which Italy carried off after skipper Gianluigi Buffon saved spot-kicks from Diego Forlan, Martin Caceres and Walter Gargano.

Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (L) stops the penalty taken by Uruguay's forward Diego Forlan during the penalty shoot-out of their FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 third-place football match, at the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador. Pic/AFP