England 0-1 Brazil
by Layth Yousif
at Wembley Stadium

AN UTTERLY underwhelming football match between two sides with rich histories was settled by a talented teenager with a big future and a painful past.

There were only 10 minutes left on the clock in this desperately disappointing clash between the pair of football heavyweights at England’s national stadium, when Brazil’s 17-year-old Palmeiras striker Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa struck to put the Selecao 1-0 up in front of 83,674 spectators.

Endrick, as the talented teen is called, understandably celebrated wildly after his goal on north-west London’s world-renowned stage.

And it wasn’t all to do with the fact the teenager became the youngest-ever player to score at Wembley, at the age of 17 years and 246 days.

His joy must have been spread among his long-suffering parents, whose sacrifices to help their boy become a footballer could not have been as searingly veracious as they were for both mum and dad in their own painful ways — the family history surely empowering them with the knowledge to treat those twin impostors of triumph and disaster just the same.

When Wembley’s Saturday night match-winner Endrick was a tot, his father, Douglas de Sousa Silva Ramos, left the family in the Federal District of Taguatinga in central Brazil, to pursue his dream of becoming a footballer — sadly failing in his desperate bid to make his mark across 10 amateur sides in Brasilia.

At one stage, things were so bad Endrick’s mother, homeless and unemployed, put a number of her children — including Endrick — into an orphanage.

Fast-forward to Saturday night, and Brazil’s No 21 quite simply erupted in celebration at Wembley — as did his teammates, who surely knew his past struggles.

It was a satisfying moment in a dull and strangely muted game that saw England suffer their first loss since the World Cup quarter-final against France in Qatar in December 2022, as well as a first reverse at the stadium in 21 games going back to the Uefa Nations League defeat by Denmark in October 2020.

No wonder, Southgate said after the match: “The difference in the game was one moment. That is the ruthlessness of football at this level.”

It was a fixture whose pre-match build up was unfortunately dominated by ceaseless charlatans, gobshite grifters, pathetic second-rate politicians, and pounded by relentlessly facile opinions from people who wouldn’t know the Three Lions from a Lion Bar – all combining to suck the joy out of what should have been a show-piece occasion, but for the acres of vacuous nonsense spewed forth by “badgegate.”

Southgate has endured another testing off-the-field phase of Kipling’s “If” — in particular “if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you” over badgegate this week.

The new kit sparked tedious culture wars prompted and fuelled by the right, as ever — even if the Three Lions boss is no stranger to employing disingenuity when it comes to topics that are far too vital to be discussed by a mere football manager (Jordan Henderson as an LGBTQ+ ally in Saudi Arabia anyone?)

Yet in this case, Southgate appeared genuinely befuddled by the furore that overshadowed the build-up to this match.

A wearisomely vapid national discussion flared about the colour of the St George’s Cross, on a kit which polemicists singularly forgot to mention was patched together by sweatshop workers denied any form of union representation, nor minimum wages, for a global multinational to sell in Britain for a staggering £130.

(While we’re here, grifters, please note the St George we refer to of Shakespeare’s “cry god for Harry, England and St George” fame was Turkish-born no less).

The new shirt also led to criticism from the bandwagon-jumping pair Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, never mind the appalling grifter’s grifter Nigel Farage — but seemingly hasn’t put off shoppers just yet, as the polyester garment continues to fly off the shelves from bedraggled high street vendors, or sourced online from soulless warehouses owned by billionaires.

With such noise as the pre-match build-up provided, perhaps it wasn’t surprising the football was disappointing.

In sporting mitigation, Southgate did have 13 players missing through injury — even if the evening should have been a chance for others to shine.

Yet once again, Aston Villa’s in-form striker Ollie Watkins failed to capitalise on the absence of Harry Kane.

The former Brentford attacker snatched the half chance he found himself presented with on 21 minutes by firing the ball over Bento’s bar when well-placed, when he really should have done better.

England had started brightly, when Phil Foden fired a free-kick narrowly wide of Bento’s far post. Brazil responded with Rodrygo driving at the heart of the Three Lions backline before drilling a low shot that Jordan Pickford gathered to his left.

Kyle Walker then cleared off the line from Vinicius’s dink over an onrushing Pickford, following exceptional vision and creativity from Lucas Paqueta.

In what will be a worry for Southgate, not to mention Walker’s club boss Pep Guardiola, with a busy spring schedule ahead of him for Manchester City, the defender — arguably England’s finest ever-right back — struggled with a hamstring issue, before being replaced by Ezri Konsa who made his Three Lions debut.

Timely recognition for a fine season under Unai Emery at resurgent Villa Park.

Harry Maguire headed over from Conor Gallagher’s free-kick prior to another debutant, Anthony Gordon, attempting a curler that fizzed marginally wide.

It was Ben Chillwell’s turn next, as the Chelsea defender guided his effort the wrong side of Bento’s far post moments later.

Moments before the interval Barcelona’s, and formerly Leeds’s, Raphina fired low across Pickford’s goal, as the teams went into the break goalless.

The match marked Selecao boss Dorival Junior’s first game in charge, with a peripatetic management CV featuring 23 different spells at 20 different clubs.

On 62 minutes, the creative Paqueta curled the ball inches the wrong side of Pickford’s far post — but in truth, the match was a dreary one.

Midway through the second half, Southgate made a series of substitutions which, once the dust had settled, still provided more questions than answers.

Brighton’s yeoman Lewis Dunk switched for the underwhelming and, to this observer, over the hill Maguire — with neither defender particularly excelling.

While the in-form Jarrod Bowen replaced the powerhouse that is Jude Bellingham, but failed to stake a claim as long-term back-up to La Liga’s imperious 20-year-old, who came to Real Madrid via Stourbridge.

The West Ham midfielder “failing to fill the unforgiving minute, with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run.”

But then again, there aren’t many who can walk with Kings such as Bellingham.

One change that did excite shortly afterwards was Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo making his Three Lions debut. The precocious 18-year-old replacing Gallagher on 75 minutes.

However, as the clock ticked down, it was to be another teenage sensation who made his mark — Brazil’s 17-year-old Palmeiras striker Endrick — who struck to put the Selecao 1-0 up with only 10 minutes remaining.

His display of predatory poaching skills ensured the youngster slotted home with fiery aplomb, after Pickford had blocked Vinicius’s initial shot to cap a flowing move, albeit one prompted when the unfortunate Dunk nodded away possession.

The celebrations were reassuringly rousing given Endrick’s family travails — a joyous antidote to the far more mundane fare presented to another sell-out crowd.

With Belgium next on Tuesday, England need to up their game.

As for Endrick, the Earth — and everything that’s in it — awaits.