England to face Brazil at Wembley
England will face five-times world champions Brazil in their first match at the new Wembley Stadium, the English FA said on Wednesday.
The friendly will be played on June 1, five days before England's UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Estonia.
"We're delighted to be able to announce that Brazil will be the first team to take on England at the new Wembley," FA chief executive Brian Barwick said on The FA's website.
"It's a fantastic match to mark the team's return to the stadium after nearly seven years on the road around the country."
England played at the old stadium for the last time in October 2000 when they lost 1-0 to Germany. The old Wembley was the stage on which England beat West Germany to win the World Cup in 1966.
"Brazil featured in some memorable matches at the old Wembley. The new stadium is a fantastic football arena and I'm confident there will be many new memories created there for England fans over the coming years," Barwick said.
England have played Brazil nine times at Wembley, most recently in a 1-1 draw in May 2000.
Adrian Bevington, the FA's director of communications told Sky Sports News: "You cannot get better opponents than that."
Construction of the £800 million ($1.58 billion) stadium, which boasts a 133-metre arch, was blighted by rising costs and delays but it received its safety certificate last month after two test events, the second of which was England's 3-3 draw with Italy in an U-21 friendly international.
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on the other hand romari still waiting for his 1,000th goal
Romario again missed out on his 1,000th goal on Wednesday as Vasco da Gama were knocked out of the Carioca championship after a 4-4 draw with Botafogo. Vasco lost the second stage semi-final tie 4-1 on penalties and their exit means Romario will have to wait until the start of the Brazilian championship in mid-May for another chance to reach the milestone.
Romario has failed to hit the target in his last three games and has been stuck on 999 goals for 280 minutes' playing time. The run has also seen Vasco knocked out of the Copa Brasil by second division Gama.
The 41-year-old former Brazil forward was centimetres away from scoring in the 32nd minute when he just failed to make contact with Jorge Luiz's chip as it flew into the goal for Vasco's third.
An extraordinary match produced three goals in the first four minutes and seven in the first half.
Renato and Abedi pounced on defensive mistakes as Vasco went 2-0 ahead in three minutes before Luciano Almeida pulled one back for Botafogo, who equalised with a Ze Roberto goal in the 22nd minute.
Vasco went back ahead 10 minutes later when Jorge Luiz left two defenders in his wake and chipped the ball over goalkeeper Julio Cesar. Romario attempt to get his head to the ball as it crossed the line but just missed.
Dodo and Lucio Flavio put Botafogo 4-3 ahead at halftime but Vasco sent the game to penalties when Alan headed the equaliser in the 37th minute.
In between, an ugly incident delayed the game for four minutes.
Botafogo midfielder Tulio was sent off for insulting the referee and Botafogo team officials ran onto the field to protest. One manhandled the referee before being forced away by police.
Shortly afterwards, Vasco had Andre Dias sent off for a sliding tackle.
There was a 20-minute delay between the end of the match and the penalties as dozens of reporters came onto the field to interview the players.
when will he reach his 1000 goal!! well have to wait till may and see...
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problems of performance appraisal is that it sucks to memorize them
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