Brazil vs. England: Score, Grades and Post-Match Reaction

The stadium proved safe in Rio de Janeiro, allowing England and Brazil to play to a 2-2 draw in a Sunday afternoon friendly match.

Brazil got the best—by a long shot—of most of the action, especially in the first half, where they dominated possession and shots. But a few poor finishing efforts and a heroic performance from English keeper Joe Hart kept the match scoreless at the intermission.

It was more of the same to start the second half, with Brazil finally breaking through on a rebound goal by Fred. Hernanes ripped a beautiful curling shot off the top of the bar, which ricocheted back into play, where Fred buried it with precision. 

From there England looked doomed, having created scant opportunities up to that point, but their resolve was impressive. They played their best football of the match in the wake of Fred's goal, and were rewarded with a score of their own. Frank Lampard played Wayne Rooney, who expertly teed up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and the Arsenal man delivered with a perfect strike to the low left corner.

Things continued to get explosive from there, as England—who seemingly would have been thrilled with a 1-1 draw—found Wayne Rooney on a counter attack. The Manchester United man ripped a shot from deep outside the box, which took a slight deflection off of Fernando, then netted itself in the top right corner:

Now staked to an unthinkable lead, England looked poised to steal a game from Brazil on their own turf. But that moment was short-lived, as Paulinho found himself unmarked at the penalty spot mere minutes later and buried home a volley goal for the Brazilians, equalizing the score.

There were hardly any chances past that, as the game finished 2-2, a promising result for England after their poor first half, and a missed opportunity for the Brazilians.

Grades

Joe Hart: A

He let up two goals in the second half, sure, but there was hardly anything he could do on either one. Good attacking plus poor defending sometimes puts the keeper in an un-winnable position. 

Besides, it's not what he did in the second half that mattered.

Brazil rammed the ball down England's throat in the first half, getting the better of the play by a long shot. Against most teams and most keepers, they would have gone into the intermission up one, two or three goals.

But Joe Hart stifled them time and time again, playing perhaps his best 45 minutes for the English National Team to date. And a team that could have been demoralized by the time half two began came out thinking they had a chance to steal the game.

Without Joe Hart's performance in the first half, we never would have seen England's performance in the second. And that makes it very consequential.

Wayne Rooney: A

Rooney was the inverse of Joe Hart—non-existent in the first half, but utterly brilliant in the second.

England's star forward set up the first goal beautifully, taking a pass from Frank Lampard and teeing up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a perfect strike. The play was as pretty as the shot from beginning to end, and Rooney had a large say in that.

Later, his team now even at 1-1, Rooney took a counter attack from the sideline to the middle with a deft cut, then fired a shot into the back corner of the net. Slight deflection be damned: it was a heck of a strike.

Even if he had a rough go of it in the first half, Rooney salvaged his performance by having a hand in both English goals. And that's enough to earn an A from me.

Neymar: B

Neymar brought it in the first half, playing brilliantly with the ball—per usual—and helping Brazil set up numerous attacks. And God knows it worked for most of the game: Brazil finished with 32 shots to England's seven, including 11 on target.

But he didn't have a direct hand in either Brazilian goal, leaving most of his forward advances a tease. Neymar didn't play bad by any stretch of the imagination, but against a good side like the Brits, they need him to turn potential energy into kinetic energy. They need him to contribute to at least one goal.

Hopefully he'll provide that in the Confederation's Cup this month.

BRAZIL GRADES
Player	Position	Grade
Julio Cesar	GK	B
Dani Alves	D	B+
Thiago Silva	D	B+
David Luiz	D	B-
Filipe Kasmirski	D	B
Neymar	M	B
Oscar	M	B
Luis Dias	M	B
Paulinho	M	A
Hulk	M	B+
Fred	F	A
Substitutes
Marcelo (on '45)	D	B-
Hernanes (on '45)	M	A-
Lucas Moura (on '56)	M	B
Fernando (on '73)	M	B
Leandro Damiao (on '80)	F	B
Bernard (on '83)	M	B

ENGLAND GRADES
Player	Position	Grade
Joe Hart	GK	A
Leighton Baines	D	B-
Gary Cahill	D	B
Phil Jagielka	D	B
Glen Johnson	D	B
Michael Carrick	M	B-
Phil Jones	M	B-
James Milner	M	A-
Frank Lampard	M	B+
Theo Walcott	M	B+
Wayne Rooney	F	A
Substitutes
Ashley Cole (on '31)	D	A-
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (on '62)	M	A
Jack Rodwell (on '83)	M	B

Twitter Reaction

Henry Winter of The Daily Telegraph heaped praise on Joe Hart and Theo Walcott at halftime, even though the rest of the team left him wanting:

David Wall of Opta France pointed to Hart's first-half touches as compared to Wayne Rooney's first half touches, emphasizing just how dominant Brazil was in the first 45 minutes:

Daily Mirror writer John Cross couldn't believe his eyes when Rooney netted his goal, pegging England to an inexplicable 2-1 lead:

After Brazil's effortless equalizer, Henry Winter praised the team for playing like "the old Brazil": 

Even when the game was over, John Cross still couldn't reconcile himself to what he had just witnessed:

I'm not sure how it happened, either, John, but a draw is a draw, and England should be just fine with that.

What's Next?

Brazil stays home to host the Confederations Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. They're in a quality group along with Italy, Mexico and their first opponent, Japan.

England, meanwhile, doesn't play until August 14, when it will square off with Scotland.