Fred praises Brazil spirit in match against England

Rio de Janeiro, June 3 (IANS)

Though Brazil’s friendly match against England to re-inaugurate the iconic Maracana stadium ended in a 2-2 draw, the home team had good reason to be satisfied, striker Fred said.

“The team (Brazil) did well; the spirit was wonderful on and off the pitch. The fans put on a great party and supported us, and that is very important,” Fred was quoted as saying by Xinhua. “That makes us think that the whole match was very good, regardless of the draw.”

Despite still recovering from a cracked rib, Fred played almost the entire match and scored the first goal in the international friendly at the revamped venue, which underwent almost three years of renovations ahead of this month’s FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.

Brazilian striker Leandro Damiao also concurred with Fred.

“The team has improved a lot. Now we need to continue the work, there is another match,” said Damiao, referring to the next friendly, against France, which will be held June 9 in Porto Alegre.

The fixture will be Brazil’s last chance to prepare ahead of their first Confederations Cup match against Japan on June 15 in Brazil’s capital city Brasilia.