BRAZIL BLUES
How Brazil lined up last time they lost to England with forgotten Chelsea stars and QPR’s goalkeeper
Right, said Fred, to equalise after Ronaldinho fluffed his lines but ex-Blues boss also made to suffer on return to London
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BRAZIL had a bad case of the Blues the last time they lost to England.
Chelsea stars David Luiz, Ramires and Oscar were all in line for some brutal banter back at the training ground after team-mate Frank Lampard grabbed the winner for a Three Lions side also featuring Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole.
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And former Stamford Bridge boss Luiz Felipe Scolari had an unhappy return to London as the man in charge of the first Brazil team to be beaten by England for 23 years.
It could all have been different if Ronaldinho had converted a penalty awarded for handball against Jack Wilshere.
But the 32 year old former Barcelona star saw his kick saved by Joe Hart and seven minutes later Wayne Rooney gave England the lead.
The visitors hit back soon after the break when half-time substitute Fred, the Fluminense striker, capitalised on a Gary Cahill error.
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But another sub, England’s Lampard, decided the game with an effort from the edge of the box on the hour.
In addition to the Chelsea trio, there was one other Premier League player in Brazil’s starting line-up.
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Another from the XI would go on to play for Tottenham, as would one of the substitutes.
And two players ended up in prison. Here’s how Brazil lined up:
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JULIO CESAR (QPR)
The Brazil goalkeeper arrived as part of QPR’s 2012 spending spree, and with huge pedigree. In 2010 with Inter Milan, under boss Jose Mourinho, he won Serie A, the Italian Cup, Super Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup - on top of four previous Scudettos.
But the Hoops were relegated and Cesar found himself frozen out, having a loan spell at Toronto FC before his contract was torn up in 2014.
He went on to win three Portuguese titles in a row with Benfica before ending his career back in Brazil with Flamengo. Won the 2004 Copa America with Brazil and earned 87 caps overall.
DANI ALVES (Barcelona)
Former full back, 40, was convicted in February 2024 of raping a woman in the bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. He was sentenced to four and a half years in jail and ordered to pay his victim nearly £130,000 in damages.
Alves’ legal team said he would appeal against his conviction. Barcelona removed him from the “Legends” section of their website, only to restore him a few days later.
Before his disgrace, he was one of the most successful players in football history, winning titles with Juventus and PSG after a stellar eight seasons with Barca.
DAVID LUIZ (Chelsea)
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The unmistakable centre back has won titles in three countries, starting with Benfica in Portugual. Luiz lifted the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup in his first spell at Chelsea, then the Premier League and Europa League again in his second.
In between, he enjoyed success with Paris Saint-Germain, and won the FA Cup again, this time with Arsenal, in 2020.
Now 36 and back in Brazil with Flamengo, in 2022 he added the cup there and the Copa Libertadores, South America’s CL equivalent, to his honours. Last played for Brazil in 2018.
DANTE (Bayern Munich)
The former Belgian league winner with Standard Liege made his senior international debut in this game, at the age of 29. It was quite the year for the centre back, as he won the Bundesliga, German Cup, Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup with Bayern.
After one season at Wolfsburg, Dante moved to Nice and is still there now, going strong at 40 as captain of the team owned by new Manchester United co-supremo Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
His last game for Brazil was the 7-1 trouncing by Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi final.
ADRIANO (Barcelona)
After winning two Spanish Cups and two Uefa Cups with Sevilla, the two-footed full back moved to Barcelona.
There he won 14 trophies in six seasons, including a 2015 Treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League, although he wasn’t always a regular in the first team.
Competition on either flank of the Brazil defence from Alves and Marcelo restricted him to just 17 international appearances. Now 39, he retired in 2022 after a season in the Belgian top flight with Eupen
PAULINHO (Corinthians)
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A few months after this game, Tottenham broke their transfer record to sign the powerful midfielder for £17m from Corinthians.
Paulinho joined an exodus to the Chinese Super League, whose cash caused a splash like the Saudi Pro League. He lifted three titles with Guangzhou Evergrande, either side of a season at Barcelona where he won the Double.
After an aborted move to Saudi side Al-Ahli, he returned to Corinthians but a knee ligament injury appears to have ended his career at the age of 35.
RAMIRES (Chelsea)
Like his team-mates in the England side, the dynamic midfielder made himself a Stamford Bridge legend - especially in the 2012 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
In the second leg, he defied a yellow card that ruled him out of the final through suspension to give a Roy Keane-style performance and level the aggregate before Fernando Torres made Gary Neville moan.
Won every trophy going with Chelsea, then headed for the Chinese Super League. Returned to Brazil to end his career at Palmeiras in 2020 when still only 33.
RONALDINHO (Atletico Mineiro)
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The buck-toothed entertainer, now 43, was back in Brazil by this time, but he had already done England enough damage with the flukey free kick that decided the 2002 World Cup quarter final clash.
The Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG star remains the only player to have won the World Cup, Copa America, Confederations Cup, Champions League, Copa Libertadores and Ballon d’Or.
Jailed in Paraguay in 2020 when he and his brother entered Paraguay on false passports, he promptly inspired his team to the prison futsal championship.
NEYMAR (Santos)
Less than four months after this game his transfer to Barcelona was announced. He had four fabulous seasons at the Camp Nou, but stunned football by moving to Paris Saint-Germain for what is still a world-record fee of £200m.
Neymar won plenty in France but the lack of Champions League glory, injuries and ego clashes soured his spell. In September 2023, he became the Saudi Pro League’s most expensive recruit to date by joining Al Hilal for nearly £77m, on reported wages of £130m per season.
Ruptured an ACL on international duty after just five games for his new club. Still only 32, but already the highest goalscorer in Brazil’s history with 79 goals in 178 appearances.
LUIS FABIANO (Sao Paulo)
A prolific goalscorer yet one who never played for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. Earned a bad boy reputation in his first spell at Sao Paulo, not least for kicking a River Plate player in the neck in a Copa Libertadores clash in 2003.
His best days were probably at Sevilla, where he won two Copa del Reys and two Uefa Cups alongside Wembley team-mate Adriano.
After scoring hatfuls in a second spell at Sao Paulo, he, too, hit the money trail to China in 2016. Started all five matches in Brazil’s Copa America triumph of 2004 and scored 28 goals in 45 internationals.
OSCAR (Chelsea)
Won two Premier Leagues, a League Cup and a Europa League with the Blues without ever really living up to his potential. Questions about his desire to play top-level football arose when he also left for China in 2017 at the age of just 25 - although reported wages of £400,000 per week would turn anyone’s head. Oscar has bucked one trend, though, by staying in China all these years despite all the scandals, financial problems and long pandemic shutdown. At 32, he captained Shanghai Port in their first game of the season at the start of this month.
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SUBSTITUTES
FRED (Fluminense)
(for Luis Fabiano, half time)
Striker scored after just 3.17 seconds for America Mineiro in 2005, one of the fastest ever goals.
MARCOS AROUCA (Santos)
(for Ramires, half time)
This was the fourth and last cap for the defensive midfielder
LUCAS MOURA (Paris Saint-Germain)
(for Ronaldinho, half time)
Became a fan favourite at Spurs, scoring the dramatic late goal against Ajax that sent them to the 2019 Champions League Final.
JEAN (Fluminense)
(for Paulinho, 62)
Enjoyed success in Brazil but never played in Europe. This was the second of six international appearances.
FILIPE LUIS (Atletico Madrid)
(for Adriano, 70)
Part of Atletico’s emergence as major power but lasted only a season at Chelsea before returning to Madrid.
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MIRANDA (Atletico Madrid)
(for David Luiz, 79)
Like Filipe Luis, won major trophies with Atletico and reached the 2014 Champions League final.
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