England to play Brazil in Rio de Janeiro

England will face Brazil in a friendly in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, June 2, the Football Association has confirmed.

Although it had been well known the match was going to take place this summer, the venue for England's first trip to Brazil since the famous 2-0 win in 1984 has still to be agreed.

England manager Roy Hodgson is hopeful the encounter will be played at the famous Maracana, where John Barnes scored his magical solo goal 29 years ago, but the stadium is still to get the green light as rebuilding work for the 2014 World Cup has fallen behind schedule.

"Having visited Brazil last year I know from experience what an incredible place it is," said Hodgson.

"It is important that England get this opportunity to go and play there and sample the atmosphere.

"It's almost 30 years since England last played in Brazil, so it will be a proud moment to take the team back there again."

New day (slowly) rising – As Brasileirão gets underway, Brazilian football stumbles, rather than leaps into the future

The average Serie A crowd last year was 13,000 - comparable to Australia’s A-League.

by James Young

24 May 2013 04:31 PM

iBet: Mercedes and Hamilton to roar in Monaco

Monaco is a street circuit where driver ability is more important than anywhere else and if we take ...

by Gareth Purnell

24 May 2013 02:00 AM

On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: It sounds sadistic, but the team live for the mountain stages

Three weeks ago as I drove off the Eurostar, I remember thinking what a very long time it was until ...

by Martin Ayres

23 May 2013 05:29 PM

Most Viewed
Most Shared
Most Commented

Get your summer started with British Military Fitness

BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes

Visit York Nook Get reading

Prizes & offers Business videos

Visit York

Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world

Military Fitness Nook Get reading

Prizes & offers Business videos

Making reading fun for kids

Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.

Military Fitness Visit York Get reading

Prizes & offers Business videos

Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign

Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.

Military Fitness Visit York Nook

Prizes & offers Business videos

Enter the latest Independent competitions

Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

Military Fitness Visit York Nook

Get reading Business videos

Business videos from commercial thought leaders

Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.

Military Fitness Visit York Nook

Get reading Prizes & offers

Recruiters

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer

Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest

'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up

Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub

The Last Word

Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally

England to play Brazil in Rio de Janeiro

Roy Hodgson hopeful game will be played at the Maracana

Latest in Sport

Caption competition

News in pictures

Sport blogs

SPONSORED FEATURES

Career Services

Day In a Page

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

Written on the body

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

The Calvin report

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

The Last Word