The world champions were on the verge of defeat after Cesar Delgado put the Argentines 2-1 ahead on 87 minutes. But Adriano's seventh goal of the competition in the third minute of injury time resulted in a shoot-out. Brazil then converted their first four penalties to claim the trophy after Andres D'Alessandro and Gabriel Heinze had missed for Argentina.
Juan scored the fourth and decisive Brazilian penalty, following solid conversions by Adriano, Edu and Diego. Earlier, Argentina had opened the scoring with a 20th-minute penalty from Kily Gonzalez. But Brazil drew level on the stroke of half-time when centre-half Luisao, who had given away the earlier spot-kick, glanced home Alex's free-kick. "We never thought it would be easy," said Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. "Argentina came with all these experienced players, but our team proved they are capable of overcoming any difficulties."
Argentina midfielder Javier Zanetti was almost lost for words after the defeat. "There are things that can't be explained in soccer," he said. "That's what happened against Brazil, we can't explain what went wrong." Adriano's last-gasp strike in normal time denied Argentina victory and gave Brazil a lifeline. "I can't explain how I'm feeling right now," he said. "This is definitely the greatest moment in my career."
Brazil: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Luisao (Cris 82), Juan, Gustavo Nery, Renato, Kleberson (Diego 54), Alex (Felipe, 63), Edu, Luis Fabiano, Adriano.
Argentina: Roberto Abbondanzieri, Fabricio Coloccini, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze, Javier Zanetti, Javier Mascherano, Juan Pablo Sorin, Luis Gonzalez (Andres D'Alessandro 75), Mauro Rosales, Cesar Delgado 64), Carlos Tevez (Facundo Quiroga 90), Cristian Gonzalez.
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay).
South Africa has won the right to host the 2010 World Cup finals after holding off the challenge of Morocco.
The announcement of the vote by Fifa president Sepp Blatter in Zurich was greeted with delight from the South African bid delegation including former president Nelson Mandela. The favourites beat Morocco 14-10 in the final vote to become the first African country to host the event. The decision will make up for the disappointment suffered by the South Africans after they lost the vote to stage the 2006 tournament by a single vote to Germany.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter made the announcement following a secret ballot of Fifa's 24 executives. Libya were disqualified before Saturday's voting started and Egypt did not receive a single vote. In making the announcement Blatter said the decision to send the event to Africa was a victory for the entire continent.
He said only one round of voting was required to produce a winner. The South African delegation, including former president Nelson Mandela, erupted in noisy celebrations after finally overcoming the disappointment of losing to Germany by a single vote in the race to host the 2006 World Cup. Morocco failed in its fourth bid, despite hoping to become both the first African and the first Arab country to host football's showpiece. Libya had earlier been disqualified after insisting on a joint bid with Tunisia who had pulled out of the race the previous day.
South African fans celebrate in Johannesburg South Africa had been seen as the frontrunner to host the event from the outset and their hopes were boosted even further last week when Fifa released its technical report. The Fifa inspection team rated South Africa's facilities as the best of the five competing countries. South Africa's bid was described as "excellent", while those of north African rivals Egypt and Morocco were "very good". Morocco, who were seen as the main rivals to South Africa, suffered a major blow by having questions raised about the country's lack of infrastructure.
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o Fils has been named African Footballer of the Year in Yaound�.
The Real Mallorca player was rewarded for a series of outstanding performances in the 2003 Confederations Cup. Eto'o beat Nigeria midfielder Jay-Jay Okocha and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba to the award. He follows compatriots Roger Milla, Thomas N'Kono, Jean-Manga Onguene, Theophile Abega and Patrick Mboma in taking African football's top individual prize.
Orlando Pirates and South Africa striker Lesley Manyathela, who died in a car accident last year, was posthumously given the Goal of the Year, with his mother collecting the award.
The list of major winners at Caf's 2003 African football awards:
Footballer of the Year: Samuel Eto'o (Real Mallorca, Spain and Cameroon)
Young Player of the Year: Obafemi Martins (Inter Milan, Italy and Nigeria)
Coach of the Year: Kadiri Ikhana (Enyimba, Nigeria)
Club of the Year: Enyimba (Nigeria)
Team of the Year: Cameroon
Best African Champions League player: Dramane Traore (Ismaili, Egypt)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Idriss Carlos Kameni (Le Havre, France and Cameroon)
Best televised goal of the year: Lesley Manyathela (Orlando Pirates, South Africa).