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England will mark their first visit to Brazil's Maracana Stadium tonight for the first time since 1984, and will be hoping to record only their second win over Luiz Felipe Scolari's side since 1990. Neither of these two international heavyweights are firing on all cylinders. The Three Lions were held to a tepid 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland midweek while tonight's hosts are currently floundering in their lowest-ever Fifa ranking of 19th place. But Brazil are typically the favourites, not least because of England's striker crisis that has seen Roy Hodgson limited to just Wayne Rooney up front. A Seleção by contrast boast an attacking array of riches that features Chelsea's Oscar and new Barcelona boy Neymar, who, despite being just 21 years old, is the highest-scoring member of the current squad with 20 goals. Brazil will also be looking to lay down a serious marker ahead of next summer's World Cup, which they are hosting. Much has been said and written in the past week about the quality and safety of the newly-refurbished Maracana and the game was even postponed at one point, so the five-time world champions will be hoping to put on a grand performance to prove their critics wrong.
Joseph Dempsey
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Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
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