Once again there was an embrace when the match was over. Although the end was premature this time for Kyle Walker, both he and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola are hoping his injury is nothing serious.
If all goes well, Walker and Vinicius Junior will don club colors for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final in Madrid in just over a fortnight. It is a wonderful prospect.
Two undisputed masters of their craft. Moving with athletic ease, the Brazilian is one of the most threatening dribblers in world football and the new poster boy for his national team in the post-Neymar era.
His name drew the biggest approval from the South American corner of Wembley Stadium as the teams were announced.
Against him the best right back of the Premier League years, lightning fast, a match for any winger in a sprint and a mature and cunning defender. Rolling in with this, a little bit of history and a little bit of needle.
If all goes well, Kyle Walker and Vinicius Junior will also play in the Champions League
The Man City ace was forced to leave the field due to an injury, and Pep Guardiola will hope it is not serious
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The Englishman came out on top when they memorably battled it out over two legs in the Champions League last year.
Walker took umbrage when Vinicius tried to ‘rainbow’ past him and got a stern South Yorkshire word in his ear on the issue of respect as they shared one of those passive-aggressive hugs that Nigel Pearson specializes in, after the first leg. .
He then bagged the Brazilian as City won the return leg in Manchester 4-0 and their personal clash here at Wembley turned into another classic as the England captain surrendered to a fitness problem.
It looked like a left hamstring adjustment as he rushed back to cover Jordan Pickford and deny Vinicius what would have been the opening goal with a clear space from his own goal line.
He stretched and jogged up and down the sideline. He came back and maybe he felt a weakness. Vinicius picked up the ball and ran towards him in the penalty area, went alongside and fell, claiming a penalty.
That wasn’t the case and it shouldn’t have been, but this was Walker’s signal. Twenty minutes into the friendly and there was the armband. He immediately turned to Vinicius, hugged him again, and made way for Ezri Konsa.
What better test on your England debut? Konsa is fast, which helps. He can play as a right back and has a lot of experience at Aston Villa this season, but he is a central defender by trade.
Vinicius was probably happy to see Walker’s back. In his first confrontation with his replacement, he left Konsa on the turf and fired home, but the Villa defender was happy to accept the challenge.
He came close and smothered it, and proved thoughtful as England dominated for long stretches in the second half, providing Brazil with vast spaces in which they could counter-attack.
It’s every defender’s nightmare against an attacker as quick and direct as Vinicus, but Konsa coped well and even threw in one of those cutbacks that were once Zinedine Zidane’s hallmark.
Within ten minutes after the clean sheet, however, it was Vinicius who broke through without a mistake and forced the save from which substitute Endrick scored. There was a hint of offside but VAR waved it through and an evening of satisfaction for England’s defensive unit was spoiled.
They didn’t look like Brazil in a shade of blue reminiscent of Italy’s Azzurri, and quite a few of the names were unknown, but there were still flashes of quality and passages of play as they zipped the ball around with panache.
Vinicius broke clear and forced the save from which substitute Endrick scored the rebound
Silvestre Dorival Junior was criticized, but ended a run of four games without a win
When they did, they dragged England’s defensive players out of place, opened up spaces and played on. Fast passes. One touch, two touches. Samba rhythms. Without the ball they showed the steely cynical edge that was often masked by their brilliance. Each of the midfield trios defeated England’s forwards with tough challenges early on.
At home they grumbled through the first match under Dorival Junior. The feeling was that they were playing too deep, on the back foot, deliberately ceding possession and territory to England and playing on the break.
The point is: it turned out to be successful. Their teenage sensation’s late goal ended a miserable run of four without a win, the kind of tangible progress Brazil need in this new dawn.
They celebrated like it mattered and this time the champagne went to Vinicius Junior, the ice pack to Kyle Walker.