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MOTD- England 2-2 Brazil

By on June 2, 2013

Wayne Rooney curls his wonderful goal into the top corner of the net Wayne Rooney curls his wonderful goal into the top corner of the net against Brazil[/caption]

England have come out of Brazil with a draw in a seemingly meaningless, yet very important (fan wise) friendly at the Estadio do Maracana, with goals from Wayne Rooney and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain salvaging The Three Lions a 2-2 draw despite being out-passed and often out-played by a young Brazil team. Brazil deservedly took the draw at the official re-opening of the Maracana, and their performance will be a good sign for manager Luiz Scolari ahead of the summer’s Confederations Cup. Scolari’s side definitely started the match on top, heartily forcing save after save out of England goalkeeper Joe Hart.

After a rather scrappy beginning to the match from The Three Lions, Brazil forced Hart into his first save in the eleventh minute when Neymar’s curling twenty-five yard free-kick whizzed over the England wall into the hands of the Manchester City goalkeeper. Scolari’s side again came close to taking the lead when Dani Alves’ long-ball in the seventeenth minute found the run of Neymar down the left sidan oncoming Hart. In the twenty-first minute again Brazil came close to opening the scoring when Neymar picked up Hulk’s of the England box, and after gliding past Glen Johnson, the Barca-bound forward’s close-range shot was expertly blocked by Hart. Neymar picked up Hulk’s flick, and after easily beating Michael Carrick, curled Brazilled a right footed shot inches wide of the post from the edge of the box, before Hart smartly parried Oscar’s powerful low shot from the edge of the box out of harms way.

As Brazil poured forward Hulk came inches away from finding the back of the net in the thirty-fifth minute, and the forward’s backheeled flick from Luis Gustavo’s low cross from the right rolled inches wide of the far post. England finally had their first chance of the match, and Johnson’s wonderful through-ball found Theo Walcott, who had his effort from the right side of the box parried away by Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar. Although England started to find their stride, the halftime whistle stopped them from gaining any real momentum, with the first half ending 0-0.

Although England began the second half brightly, it was Brazil who took the lead, with Fred scoring in the fifty-seventh minute to put Scolarii’s side in front. Substitute Hernanes’ deflected effort from twenty-five yards curled over Hart and onto the top crossbar, and it bounced off the bar to Fred, who coolly volleyed it under Hart into the back of the net fro six yards. Surprisingly, England sparked to life, and after Wayne Rooney headed inches wide of the far post from a corner, Roy Hodgson’s side took the lead. Oxlade-Chamberlain slipped a pass into Frank Lampard, who played it to Rooney, who laid it off for The Ox to drill a powerful low volley into the corner of the net from twenty-yards out.

Brazil lost their momentum, and Rooney amazingly gave England the lead with only ten minutes left. Rooney drifted into the center of the Brazil half from the left, and curled an stunning right-footed shot above a helpless Cesar into the top corner of the net from the edge of the box, with a slight deflection helping it into the back of the net. But, the lead was short-lived, and Paulinho gave Brazil an equalizer in the eighty-second minute. Lucas Moura ran down the right flank before twisting to curl a cross straight to the completely open Paulinho, who sliced a perfect side-volley into the bottom corner of the net from around the penalty sport, leaving Hart rooted to the spot. Although Scolari’s side pressured England for the remaining minutes, The Three Lions held on to the draw, leaving them with an inspiring draw ahead of their World Cup qualifiers.
Man of the Match: Neymar

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.