England Women vs Brazil Women. Women's International Friendlies.
Riverside StadiumAttendance29,238.
Sunday 6 October 2019 07:07, UK
England Women's World Cup hangover continued as Debinha's second-half double saw Brazil beat the Lionesses 2-1 at a sold-out Riverside.
Debinha opened the scoring four minutes after half-time, albeit with the help of a mistake from Mary Earps, before her deflected strike doubled the visitors' lead midway through the second period.
However, despite the home side halving the deficit thanks to substitute Beth England's magnificent header, it was too little, too late as Phil Neville's side suffered their second loss in three games this season.
The Lionesses came into this friendly looking for a return to the form that took them all the way to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer, and the hosts began proceedings on the front foot in front of more than 29,000 fans in the north east.
Nikita Parris had the ball in the net after just 10 minutes, only for the Lyon forward's effort to rightly be ruled out for offside against Jodie Taylor in the buildup, before Beth Mead went desperately close to finding the far corner of the goal after a mesmerising run and dribble.
England spurned further gilt-edged chances before the break, none more so than when poor Brazil defending allowed Taylor a clear run on goal, only for the Reign forward's chip to float over the bar.
And the South Americans - who lost 2-1 to France in the last-16 of the World Cup in June - made England pay for their profligacy in front of goal when Tamires's run down the left and cut back was met by Debinha six yards out.
Earps - standing in for first-choice Karen Bardsley - got her hand to the weakly struck shot, only to spill it over the line, before the striker made it 2-0 when her effort was deflected past the backup goalkeeper by Steph Houghton.
The Lionesses, who had earlier seen Lucy Bronze pick up the Uefa Women's Player of the Year award, got back into the contest when England rose magnificently to power Houghton's deep cross into the far corner of the goal with 10 minutes left to play.
But there was not enough time left for England to avoid a fourth defeat in their past five encounters.
Phil Neville: "In terms of the performance I'm not concerned with what I've seen today - it actually gives me great hope that this set of players are going in the right direction.
"We should have been at least 3-0 up at half-time but in that little period in the second half they hit us with two sucker-punches and then we dominated the game after that.
"That's the way it's falling for us at the moment in time and we've got to accept that this is one of those periods.
"I think Beth [England] made a brilliant impact. I know she's a goalscorer but she has to be patient and get to that level of performance that will get her a starting place.
"She doesn't need many chances to score goals and we felt we brought her on at the right time."
Sky Sports' Rebecca Williams at the Riverside
The 34,000 seater Riverside stadium was a sellout. The crowd's cheers muted only by the sea of red and white flags. A match in the north east - home to eight of the England squad - was always going to have a great atmosphere. And it didn't disappoint.
On the pitch, however, there was disappointment for England, who are now without a win in five games. Yet again lapses in concentration and weaknesses in defence let them down.
There are positives to be drawn. The Lionesses dominated the game, had endless opportunities in the first half and ultimately deserved to win. Bethany England made an immediate impact when she was brought on, scoring her first goal for her country. But it came too late to make any real difference to the game.
It was great to see Jordan Nobbs back, after a year out with an ACL injury. She battled hard and worked well with Beth Mead, who created some great chances for the Lionesses.
Brazil forward, Marta, who is widely regarded as the best female player of all time, was always likely to be one of the greatest threats. But Lucy Bronze marked her out of the game and she had minimal impact.
England are in desperate need of a win. They've suffered a dip in form since the World Cup and with the Olympics just nine months away, they need to get back to winning ways.
The North Carolina Courage forward was at her brilliant best at the Riverside, causing the England defence no end of problems throughout.
The striker's opener may have owed much to some poor goalkeeping from Earps, while her decisive second took a deflection on its way into the net.
However, it was the 27-year-old's all-round display in the north east that really caught the eye and ultimately proved the difference between the two sides.
Neville takes his England team to Lisbon to face Portugal in another friendly international at the Bonfim Stadium on Tuesday night, before hosting Germany at Wembley Stadium on November 9.
