It is the itch that England have struggled to scratch. Rarely do they get very much from Brazil; their record in games with them is worse than that against any other opponent and it was a night when things got worse, producing all kinds of difficult questions for Gareth Southgate. It was meant to be different, a friendly to fine tune for the European Championship in the summer, even as Southgate missed key players – most notably the captain Harry Kane, Luke Shaw and Bukayo Saka. Brazil had been portrayed as being in crisis, the new manager, Dorival Júnior, warning that he did not have a magic wand. By the end, it looked as though he did.
England were second best. They could get little going in an attacking sense, Kane and co were missed, the understudies not doing enough. There was the feeling, especially in the first half, that England were vulnerable – reports of Brazil’s demise are plainly premature – and Dorival Júnior’s team got the goal they deserved towards the end.
