England midfielder Declan Rice might have lost to Brazil on Saturday night but got a parting present from Vinicius Jr later.
Both teams had a thrilling match at Wembley, with several missed opportunities before 17-year-old wonderkid Endrick came off the bench to score the winning goal in the 80th minute..
Brazil then became the first team to defeat the Three Lions on home soil in four years, with Endrick becoming the youngest ever goalscorer for club or country at Wembley.
The young player does not have the same star power as Vinicius just yet, and many England players wanted his jersey after the match. However, it was Arsenal midfielder Rice who left the game with a special gift.
Immediately after the game, Vinicius called over his Real Madrid team-mate Jude Bellingham in the Wembley tunnel and jokingly asked if the England star wanted him to sign his jersey as they exchanged shirts, with the 20-year-old laughing and responding 'No quiero', which means 'I don't want it' in English.
Both players had brought two of their shirts, with Bellingham giving one of his to Vinicius and the other to Rodrygo – who is also his team-mate at the Bernabeu.
Bellingham seemed confused about who Vinicius’ second shirt was for and asked the Brazilian, who replied that it was for Rice, who presumably requested the jersey during the match.
A member of England’s backroom staff then took the jersey back to the home dressing room while Bellingham walked toward the Brazil changing room, sharing a handshake, a hug and a brief conversation with Rodrygo.
Responding tothe loss, Bellingham wrote on social media: ‘Always a pleasure to wear an England shirt and play at Wembley. Unlucky with the result but more motivation for Tuesday.’
England will play again on Tuesday evening against Belgium, currently ranked number four in the world, and Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate is already anticipating the match.
He said: ‘Belgium have probably played a different 11, or close to it, so they’re going to be a bit fresher. But similar to (Brazil) we’re talking about a high-level game, brilliant experience for the players, a chance to see new players again, build towards the summer.
‘I’m not disappointed with the level of performance. I know that when you lose the game, there will always be a negative reaction to losing.
‘But my thought was, with 15 minutes to go and all the changes that we’d made, I thought the crowd was already supporting the team.
‘They could see many young players performing well, a lot of very inexperienced players doing well, so I’m not down on the team's performance at all.’
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