England women 1 Brazil women 0: Lionesses down Brazil in front of record crowd at Meadow Park as Phil Neville’s side start World Cup preparations
Fran Kirby scored the only goal of the game in front of a record crowd at Meadow Lane - her 11th goal in 33 appearances
ENGLAND WOMEN started their World Cup 2019 preparations with a bang with a 1-0 win over Brazil in Nottingham.
It was the first time the two sides had met and a record crowd for a Lionesses side saw Phil Neville's team with a deserved victory thanks to an early goal from Fran Kirby.
England started the game brightly looking to shock Brazil early on in a cold, wet and windy Meadow Lane.
The game plan from Phil Neville worked and just two minutes into the game Kirby put the side ahead with her 11th goal in just 33 appearances for her national side.
Manchester City forward Nikita Parris made an excellent run down the wing with Kirby getting her head on the cross and finding the back of the net.
Just 20 minutes into the game, FIFA Best Women's Player 2018 Marta was forced off for Brazil due to a hamstring injury, much to the disappointment of the crowd.
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Throughout the first half the Lionesses had a number of chances including shots from Parris and Houston Dash star Rachel Daly but failed to double their lead.
Brazil, who are ranked eighth in the World struggled in Nottingham with defender Formiga failing to keep up with Kirby on a number of occasions.
The visitors were forced into a second substitution just before the half hour mark when Daiane replaced the injured Bruna.
In the second half both sides seemed to struggle with the game coming flat, there were a couple of chances for both sides but both Carly Telford and Barbara only had easy saves to make.
With only minutes of coming on substitute Lucy Staniforth, who celebrated her 26th birthday at St. Georges on Tuesday, had one of England's best chances of the game but her header was easily saved by the Brazilian goalie.