It's one of the most iconic fixtures on the international stage and almost always always throws up unforgettable moments and matches
ENGLAND versus Brazil is an iconic fixture on the international stage which almost always always throws up unforgettable moments and matches.
The two teams meet once more at Wembley tonight and Three Lions coach Gareth Southgate will be hoping tomorrow’s performance will be the latest.
Our friends at Football Whispers look back at five great moments from England vs Brazil games in the past.
Defending champions England were beaten in the 1970 World Cup group stage by arguably Brazil’s best ever team.
The game at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, has gone down as a classic as Brazil’s 1-0 win laid the foundations for winning the competition.
Jairzinho’s stunner would usually have taken the headlines.
But it was Gordon Banks’ unbelievable save to deny Pele that sticks most in the mind.
The goalkeeper amazed fans around the world by somehow scooping Pele’s powerful downward header over the bar despite being bound for the back of the net.
Speaking about the save, Banks said: “I heard Pele shout ‘Goal’ after he headed it. Definitely. He thought it was past me.”
It’s the stuff of dreams, a jinking solo goal in the Maracana against Brazil, but that was exactly what happened for John Barnes in 1984.
The then-Watford man picked the ball up on the left wing before weaving past five Brazilians, rounding the keeper and sweeping home.
He then turned provider for Mark Hateley in a 2-0 win, England’s first victory on Brazilian soil.
But it was Barnes’ strike, a goal that Brazilian greats like Garrincha and Pele would have been pleased to score, that everyone remembers.
The only person that doesn’t remember it is Barnes himself, who said in 2013: “I always liken it to an out-of-body experience, because I can't remember even when I see it on television.”
England’s 1-0 win over Brazil at Wembley just 70 days before the 1990 World Cup showed potential for what was to come later that year.
Gary Lineker stooped to head the ball past Brazil keeper Claudio Taffarel after 37 minutes to claim the winner and equal the 30-goal England total of Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney.
He went on to score 48 goals in 80 international appearances, but that goal against an impressive Brazil side showed England could be a force and they went on to lose a penalty shoot-out against West Germany in the World Cup semi-finals.
Bobby Robson underlined just how good Lineker was at the time too, saying: “He's the best striker we have at spinning off defenders. He did more than just score as well. He made interesting runs and was troubling defenders.
“When you look around Europe you would probably put only [Marco] Van Basten, of Holland, in the same bracket at the moment."
With David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Michael Owen, England’s 2002 World Cup squad was one to be feared.
And it was one legendary free-kick that was the difference between them and Brazil in the quarter-final.
Owen put the Three Lions ahead in Japan before Rivaldo equalised. But that is forgotten about any time the game is brought up.
Whether it was brilliance or a fluke is still up for debate, but Ronaldinho, more than 35 yards out and wide on the right, sent a free-kick spinning over a floundering, unprepared David Seaman in 2002.
The red-faced and wrong-footed England keeper could only watch as the ball curled into the top-left corner, taking Brazil through to the semi-finals.
In 2007 the Three Lions returned to their national stadium after a seven-year exile.
While all the talk at the time was about David Beckham’s return to international football for the first time in 11 months, it was John Terry who will go down in the record books.
Beckham’s free-kick found the Chelsea and England captain, who rose above Naldo to power a header home – England’s first goal at the new stadium.
It wasn’t the perfect homecoming though, with Diego Ribas’ stoppage-time equaliser spoiling the party for Steve McClaren’s side.
