Wayne Rooney has revealed his pride at being named England captain and feels a full-strength team can beat Brazil.
Striker feels full-strength team is capable of beating Brazil
Wayne Rooney has revealed his pride at being named England captain and feels a full-strength team is capable of beating Brazil.
With regular skipper John Terry a late absentee through injury, and a string of other experienced players missing, Rooney was handed the armband for Saturday's friendly in Qatar.
The Manchester United striker produced a typically committed performance, but was unable to prevent a second-string England side losing 1-0 following Nilmar's header early in the second half.
Rooney acknowledged England are capable of a better performance, but he was delighted to be given the honour of captaining his national team.
Great moment
"It was a great moment for me to lead the side out, something I was really proud of," said Rooney. "When you are a young kid, you dream of captaining England but never think it will happen.
"Tonight it has happened and I'm proud, and my family will feel the same, but I don't think it was the best game we have played. We can do a lot better.
"The first half was quite even, but in the second half they were the better side and deserved the victory. We looked tired at the end. We did okay, but we can do better."
But Rooney is optimistic England could match the Brazilians if they are at full strength and believes Spain, of the sides England have faced under Fabio Capello, gave them more problems.
Rooney said: "Can we beat Brazil with a first XI? I think so. It was probably Brazil's strongest side bar one or two players and we had nine or ten missing.
"That is difficult for any team to overcome, especially against Brazil. At full strength we definitely would give them a better game than tonight.
"Are they the best we've faced at international level? I don't know. I think Spain are better. I didn't play in that game (in Seville in February), but I watched it and Spain were a bit better and created more chances."
