Endrick makes history
… as Brazil beat England to launch new era
BRAZIL’S new boss Dorival Junior started his bid to revive the five-time world champions with a 1-0 win against England as teenage sensation Endrick bagged his first international goal in Saturday’s friendly at Wembley.
Coming off their worst period for over 60 years, Brazil hope Dorival Junior can trigger a revival in time to challenge for the 2026 World Cup.
This was a first significant step in the right direction for the Selecao, who marked their manager’s debut with victory against an England side expected to make a strong challenge to win Euro 2024.
On a cathartic evening for Brazil after their wretched 2023, it was fitting the highly-rated Endrick bagged Brazil’s late winner.
The Palmeiras forward, due to join Real Madrid in July, has been tipped to succeed Neymar as Brazil’s latest superstar and his matchwinning cameo appearance off the bench was a suitable coming of age moment in his third appearance.
Endrick stole the spotlight in the 80th minute when the teenager tapped in, defying England’s appeals for offside after Vinicius Junior’s shot was saved by Jordan Pickford.
Aged 17 years and 246 days, Endrick is the youngest senior international goal-scorer at Wembley.
He is also the youngest player to score for Brazil since Ronaldo in 1994.
“Time will tell how far he can go. We have to be calm and patient with him,” said Dorival Junior.
“If he keeps up the attitude he has shown up to now, he will be a very important name in Brazilian football and world football,” Dorival said when asked about the teenage prodigy who is due to join Real Madrid from Palmeiras in July.
He said he opted to bring Endrick off the bench rather than the more experienced Richarlison because the Tottenham Hotspur player was still recovering his form after an injury.
“It’s a really special moment, for sure,” Dorival told reporters. “On only a few occasions has a Brazil side won in England which must say something about us. But we must not lose sight of the fact that this is just the start of our work.
“I have a lot of trust in these boys,” he said. “I am hoping for a lot more from this team, but I think this shows what we are capable of going forward.”
Brazil will aim to build on the momentum from their first win over England since 2009 in another friendly against Spain on Wednesday (4.30am Malaysian time).
England boss Gareth Southgate hailed “lots of very good performances” from his England players – their first loss since the 2022 World Cup.
The home side, one of the favourites for Euro 2024, impressed in spells but lacked a cutting edge against their disciplined opponents at Wembley and had some shaky moments in defence.
Defeat is a blow for Southgate, who has just the one more match, against Belgium on Wednesday (3.45am), before he names his squad for Euro 2024 in Germany.
“There were lots of very good performances,” Southgate told Channel 4. “It is a top-level game and we have controlled long parts of it.
“We had as many attempts as them on goal but in the end it is that ruthless moment that decides the game.
“We’ve had a lot of players go on, a couple of debuts and some really important individual performances for us.”
England were without several key players including captain Harry Kane and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka through injury.
But Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon impressed on his debut while Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa and Manchester United’s teenage midfield prodigy Kobbie Mainoo won their first caps as substitutes.
“Tonight was the best day of my life,” Gordon told the BBC.
“I envisioned it a bit different with a win and a goal. I thought we were the better team but we lacked that cutting edge that they had at the end.
“This is my long-term dream I have had. To achieve it means everything to me.”
He added: “We have to find a way of killing teams and putting them to the sword when we get the chance.”
Adding to Southgate’s problems, England’s stand-in captain Kyle Walker was forced off with a hamstring injury. – AFP/Reuters