Wonder kid Endrick snatches winner as England crash to Brazil in not so friendly at Wembley Stadium
jBy Paul Lagan at Wembley Stadium
England 0 v Brazil 1
83,674
Brazil don't play friendlies and their rough house tactics of disrupting England's rhythm worked to a treat as they poached a lucky goal late on to consign Gareth Southgate's charges to a 1-0 defeat at Wembley Stadium
The second-half goal from new wonder kid Endrick, just 17, appeared to be fortunate in the extreme
He was offside when running alongside Vinicius Jnr on a break.
The ball fell to the youngster who slotted home into an empty net.
VAR had a look and gave the goal.
But this was a Brazil side stung from a series of indifferent performances of late.
They know playing England can have a major impact on their reputation at home, and they were determined not to allow the Rolls Royce of the England setup, Jude Bellingham, run the show.
Quite what the shins and ankles of the Real Madrid attacking midfielder must look like is anyone's guess, but judging by the hacks at them from the Brazilians, I'd suggest a few ice bags will be needed and probably a rest from the next match against Belgium.
Phil Foden was inches away with a left-footed in-swinging free kick on three minutes.
Bento was not unduly worried by it to be fair.
In a similar position on six minutes another free kick was equally wasted, this time Ben Chilwell was the taker, but Harry Maguire was adjudged to have strayed offside.
The visitors first effort on goal, on nine minutes saw Rodrygo carry the ball forward without intervention. He let fly with a left-footer, but Jordan Pickford was more than happy to dive to his left and snaffle the effort.
Brazil cut England apart on 12 minutes and Vinicius Jnr raced clear . He slotted past Pickford, but Kyle Walker had got back and managed to intercept the ball and prevent the opener.
Brazil were now in the ascendency and several half-chances went begging in quick succession.
Ollie Watkins had an excellent chance, set up by Jude Bellingham and Conor Gallagher, but his snatched left-footer from 12-yards put sailed high over Bento's crossbar.
It was the end of the game for Walker on 20 minutes, he had got a knock previously and on came, for his debut Ezri Konsa.
The Three Lions had plenty of free-kicks in the opening 45 minutes – Brazil were not backward in coming forward to halt and seemingly decisive attack. Yet the home side failed to capitalise on the set-piece chances.
Brazil's Lucas Paqueta smacked the right post of Pickford on 34 minutes in a mazy attack that saw the ball zip around the England defence, with the defenders looking like rabbits caught in a car's headlights.
A nice run and shot by debutant Anthony Gordon with five minutes left on the clock saw Bento dive to his left to deflect the curler from going in.
Maguire gifted Raphinha a golden chance with a sloppy misplaced back pass to Pickford. The winger latched on to the ball but could only sent his shot wide of the goal.
It was a major let off for England.
Bento did well to parry away a close range Gordon volley from yet another free kick on 49 minutes as England tried to take positive stance against the Brazilians.
But instead the game entered a sterile period with neither side looking capable of creating something out of nothing.
This had a knock-on effect on the fans who bored with what was on offer on the pitch started a campaign to send paper aeroplanes o to it.
A few made it, while many, like the chances by the players on the field fell well short of their target.
So inevitably, on 67 minutes, Gareth Southgate opted to make changes - on came the trio of Lewis Dunk, Jared Bowen and Joe Gomez, off went Bellingham, Chilwell and Maguire.
They were soon followed by debutant Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford with Gallagher and
Gordon popping off to the dugout to watch the final 15 minutes.
The replacements did not help the England cause and on 81 minutes the visitors took the lead when Endrick slotted home into an empty net.
Despite the youngster, just 17, being offside in the attack, it seemed that VAR deemed it to be a legitimate goal.
With the last kick of the game, Pickford thwarted Endrick by hacking away his shot, but the damage was done.
England return to Wembley on Tuesday when they face Belgium in another friendly – probably a match more suited to the title.
Teams: England: Pickford, Walker, Chilwell, Rice, Stones, Maguire, Foden, Gallagher, Watkins, Bellingham, Gordon
Subs: Johnstone, Ramsdale, Konsa, Dunk, Branthwaite, Gomez, Toney, Bowen, Rashford, Maddison, Mainoo
Brazil: Bento, Danilo, Guimaraes, Wendell, Vinicius Jnr, Paqueta, Rodrygo, Raphinha, Bruno, Gomes Beraldo
Subs: Rafael, Jardim, Murilo, Bremer, Richarlison, Couto, Pepe, Andre, Luiz, Pereira, Savio, Endrick, Galeno, Ayrton, Maia
READ YANN TEAR'S TALKING POINTS FROM THE GAME HERE
