England v Brazil

    
Steve McClaren said England defended well against Brazil  
England manager Steve McClaren was very pleased with his decision to bring David Beckham back into the England team for their friendly against Brazil, hailing him the best right-sided midfielder in the world.
It was Beckham's first game for England since the World Cup last year and he certainly proved himself .

Thanks to Beckham's perfectly placed free-kick , which England captain John Terry headed past the Brazil keeper in the 68th minute of the game, England were in the lead 1-0.


  Superb delivery
His delivery is superb. It was a great ball from Becks and it was about time I scored again.


John Terry, England captain

Terry complimented his team mate saying "His delivery is superb", meaning the way Beckham aims the ball and kicks it with such precision is excellent.

He also described Beckham's free-kick as "a great ball from Becks" adding "it was about time I scored again". The e­xpression "it's about time" means you haven't done something for a while so it's really time you did it. So John Terry hasn't scored a goal in recent England matches but he is good at scoring goals so it really was time that he had a chance to score one.


  Moving it wide
We couldn't get through the middle of them and we tried to move it wide.


John Terry, England captain

Captain John Terry went on to talk about how the game was for the England team against Brazil. He said "We couldn't get through the middle of them" meaning it was very hard to get the ball through Brazil's midfield in the middle of the pitch.

The England team "tried to move it wide" , so they tried to get the ball towards the goal by going to the far right and left of the pitch.

But the game wasn't a clear victory for England. In the 90th minute, during injury time , they conceded a goal , making the final score 1-1.


  A clean sheet
To nearly get the clean sheet, to be 15 seconds away, shows that as a team we defended well.


Steve McClaren, England manager

Manager Steve McClaren was still full of praise for his team though. He said "to nearly get the clean sheet, to be 15 seconds away, shows that as a team we defended well".

"A clean sheet" is an e­xpression we use to mean we forget the past and start again. So England can forget their recent defeats with a clear win. So they almost got "a clean sheet" but 15 seconds before the end Brazil scored.

McClaren says it shows the England team defended well because for most of the game Brazil couldn't score.

Captain Terry said the good performance and result should help them for the important Euro 2008 qualifier 2008 against Estonia this week .