Match Summary

England Team

There is nothing like a game against the mighty Brazil to start a new year's fixtures and this match at Wembley was a cracker.  It was perfect as part of the English F.A.'s 150th Anniversary celebrations, and the capacity crowd were thoroughly entertained by a marvellous game of football.

Roy Hodgson would have been pleased to gather his players together again, especially as we will be playing some vital games in the next few weeks.  the evening belonged, to some extent, to Ashley Cole, who became the seventh England player to reach the coveted 100 cap mark.  Some people say that he has possibly been lucky to reach that landmark, but I don't agree and over the past few years he has been arguably our best and most consistent performer, so many congratulations to him.

The game began tentatively but on two minutes Jack Wilshere showed just why he is so highly rated with a good run that produced a corner.  Brazil's current hot property, Neymar, also showed up well in the early exchanges.  But it took until the ninth minute before the first real chance arrived.  Steven Gerrard's cross was met by Wayne Rooney and his header was brilliantly tipped away by Julio Cesar in the Brazil goal.  Unfortunately it wouldn't have counted because of a push by Rooney.  Then a breakaway by Neymar set up Oscar for a shot that flew over as Brazil retaliated.  It was nip and tuck at this stage and Cleverley's cross had to be punched away by Cesar on 14 minutes.  Four minutes later though Brazil were awarded a penalty.  It was a slightly contentious decision as Ronaldhinho's cross struck Wilshere at close range and the referee deemed it had hit Wilshere's hand.  Surely it had been ball to hand rather than hand to ball?  A penalty it was, but to the delight of the crowd, Joe Hart got down well to block Ronaldhinho's spot-kick, saved the follow up attempt and then was relieved when a brilliant touch by Cleverley took the ball off Neymar's toes.  It was a let-off for England, but probably a deserved one.

On 22 minutes a superb pass from Wilshere to Theo Walcott ended with a shot too high and then a good pass from Gerrard to Cole ended with another good effort just wide.  That would have been a great moment had Cole scored on his big night!  Overall the game was fairly even and on 25 minutes England created another opening as the marauding Glen Johnson shot over after good interplay with Walcott.  But in England's next attack they took the lead.  Great passing between Wilshere and Rooney gave the Arsenal player the chance to drive at the Brazil defence.  His vision is superb and he spotted Walcott's run with a wonderful pass into the winger's path.  Cesar came out and managed to block the shot but the ball ran loose to the edge of the area where Rooney followed up to shoot low, hard and true into the open net for a fine goal.

Almost immediately Wilshere sent Walcott away again and only some desperate Brazilian defending stopped that attack.  On 34 minutes another good break by the lively Walcott almost brought another chance for England and the confidence was now high from the home side.  But on 37 minutes they were almost brought back down to earth when Oscar broke down the right before sending a superb pass to the far post.  Inexplicably the onrushing Neymar somehow shot over from close range when it seemed he must score.  The excellent Johnson headed another dangerous cross clear but then Rooney hit back with a good shot that flew past Cesar's post.  Just before the break Danny Welbeck combined with Walcott and the winger's cross-shot was palmed away ungainly by Cesar.  The half ended with England just about deserving their lead.

Right at the start of the second half Rooney combined with Gerrard and the skipper fired in a fierce shot that Cesar palmed out again, this time Wilshere almost managed to convert the rebound.  What is it with goalkeepers this season that they want to keep pushing the ball back into the danger areas rather than hold on to the ball?

Several substitutes had come on for both sides at the start of the half including Leighton Baines for Cole and Frank Lampard for Cleverley.  Just when it seemed Brazil were running out of ideas, England gave them a lifeline.  Gary Cahill came striding out of defence with the ball but his attempted pass struck a Brazilian and bounced right into the path of substitute Fred.  The magnificently named forward took one touch and then rifled a terrific shot wide of Hart.  Cahill was distraught as he realised the significance of his mistake.  Almost immediately Brazil almost made England pay for another mistake.  Smalling's attempted back pass had Hart at full stretch to kick clear, the ball struck Cahill and again bounced invitingly for Fred.  This time the striker's shot just clipped the bar, much to the relief of the England fans.  The mistakes had Gerrard and Rooney, in particular, seething and they both barked out instructions to 'get a grip', or words to that effect.  To be fair to the two central defenders, who had done well up to that point, they managed to regain their composure for the remainder of the game.

Indeed, Cahill almost made amends on 55 minutes, when his powerful header from a corner was tipped over the bar by Cesar.  But there was no doubt that Brazil had been lifted by their equaliser and they had also upped the pace after the break.  However they were not firing on all cylinders, like they usually do, and Wilshere and Gerrard worked tirelessly to wrestle the midfield back again.  On 58 minutes another fine run and cross by Walcott was only just scrambled away by Cesar and his defence.  Two minutes later and England regained the lead.  Walcott and Rooney combined, and as Brazil looked as though they had cleared the situation, Rooney made a vital touch of the ball to Lampard.  The Chelsea maestro, in a rich vein of goalscoring lately, didn't hesitate and clipped a first time shot that flew past the diving Cesar to go in off the post.  It was a brilliant goal and if a Brazilian had scored it we would have been talking about it forever!  The placement of the shot was sublime.

England comfortably held Brazil through the remaining half-hour with only a few half chances falling to the visitors.  The Brazilians are not as strong these days, and the flair seemed to be missing from their play to some extent.  Although England sat back too much for most people's liking, they looked in command, and Brazil had neither the guile nor skill to penetrate again.  In the last quarter, both sides put together some useful approach play but there were no other real scares in front of goal.  England deservedly won the game and it was good to report that everyone chipped in with positive performances.  And it also was great to see the England players looking as though they were really enjoying playing for their country again.  This squad is quietly developing into something rather special under Roy Hodgson's stewardship.  Now though, the big tests lie ahead.
   

Source Notes