As England prepared to face Brazil in Shizuoka with a spot in the 2002 World Cup semifinals at stake, some pundits believed the time had arrived for the Three Lions to defeat the mighty Seleção on the big stage for the very first time.
There was a sense that Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side were defensively frail, bereft of midfield technicians and solely reliant on their three-pronged attack laden with genius. This was no Brazil outfit that could imitate their global conquests of yesteryear, they said, even if their champions from eight years before had failed to capture hearts and minds in the United States.
