Gareth Southgate discusses England performance, Kane injury after Brazil defeat
In their first fixture of 2024, England's 21-match unbeaten run at Wembley — stretching back to a 1-0 defeat to Denmark in October 2020 — came to a dampening end to a Selecao side who ended 2023 on a three-game losing run.
After a goalless 80 minutes in the capital, soon-to-be Real Madrid teenager Endrick netted the only goal of the contest, tapping in from close range after Jordan Pickford denied Vinicius Junior one-on-one.
An England team without Harry Kane or Bukayo Saka could only muster three shots on target against Brazil, whose backline was comprised of four senior debutants alongside Danilo, although the visitors also committed 19 fouls during a stop-start affair.
Key figure Jude Bellingham was perennially targeted, while West Ham United's Lucas Paqueta made six of his nation's 19 fouls and was fortunate not to see red on the evening, although the manner of England's tepid attacking performance naturally raised alarm bells ahead of Euro 2024.
Speaking to Channel 4 after the game, though, Southgate affirmed that he saw plenty of encouraging signs, saying: «We played from the back really well. I am happy with a lot of that performance.»
Elaborating to BBC Radio 5 Live, the England boss conceded that his side were evidently lacking a cutting edge, adding: «We have seen a lot of players with not a lot of England caps and we have held our own in possession and had attempts on goal.
»But, that one ruthless moment changes the game. They have clearly got some fabulous forwards and you have to defend well. We had one or two moments we didn't do that and our
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