Tunisia score over Australia

Francileudo dos Santos scored twice to give Tunisia a 2-0 win over Australia in the final Confederations Cup match for both teams who will now head home after failing to reach the semi-finals.

Santos put Tunisia ahead in the 26th minute, tapping in when Australia keeper Michael Petkovic dropped the ball in front of goal after colliding with his own defender, Lucas Neill, following a cross from Mehdi Nafti.

Santos, a Brazilian with Tunisian citizenship whose goals fired his adopted country to African Nations Cup success last year, doubled their lead with his second goal in the 70th to wrap up the victory in their Group A encounter.

That put an abrupt end to Australia's attempted fightback after they had come to life in the second half when Mark Viduka, making his first start of the tournament, was replaced by Archie Thompson, who just missed in the 56th minute.

A 67th-minute cross by Jason Culina, who had also come off the bench after the break, then found midfielder Tim Cahill unmarked on the left but his volley also went narrowly wide.

Tunisia finished the tournament with one win and two losses -- against semi-finalists Argentina and Germany -- while Australia were beaten by all three opponents.

The match in Leipzig, played before a surprisingly large crowd of almost 24,000, began under sweltering heat before a steady downpour, complete with flashes of lightning, in the secodn half made the pitch treacherous.

After Santos had been gifted the opening goal the shaky Petkovic, replacing Mark Schwarzer, almost conceded another two minutes into the second period when he tried to punch the ball and missed, leaving defender Craig Moore to clear the danger.

Australia paid a heavy price for their poor finishing after halftime, squandering three good chances to equalise before an unmarked Santos broke free to the left of goal and blasted a close-range shot past the helpless Petkovic.