England can beat world’s best

Steve Griffiths

Frank Lampard believes England's 2-1 win over Brazil proves Roy Hodgson's side finally have enough weapons to go head to head with the world's best teams.

After the dour reign of Fabio Capello and a cautious start to the Hodgson era, England claimed their first win over Brazil for 23 years by unveiling an eye-catching brand of attacking play inspired by Hodgson's gifted youngsters and battle-hardened veterans.

With Steven Gerrard anchoring midfield, Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverley were allowed to surge forward in support of Wayne Rooney, while Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck added pace and power on the flanks.

It was a potent mix that Brazil found too hot to handle at Wembley on Wednesday as Rooney opened the scoring after an incisive attack involving Wilshere and Walcott.

Even when Brazil equalised early in the second half through Fred, Chelsea midfielder Lampard came off the bench to bag the winner on the hour.

Lampard was impressed with the way Hodgson's men took the game to the five-time world champions and he is convinced England now have the right attacking formula to trouble any team in the world.

“The concentration and workrate in midfield, with me, Stevie and Jack was excellent,” Lampard said.

“We were a threat going forward and we had pace. If you look at our team now, you can get a bit more excited.

“When you look at what Theo is doing to defences every week, what Wayne is doing and Danny Welbeck, all of a sudden we can hurt teams.

“Brazil have got some fantastic individuals but if you look at our team we have players who can stand up to them.

“In terms of workrate and the chances we created when we won the ball back and moved it quickly, they couldn't handle that.”

AFP