England hold Brazil in Maracana friendly

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England gave World Cup hosts Brazil a fright Sunday as they held the five-time world champions to an entertaining 2-2 draw in a prestige friendly in Rio de Janeiro.

The visitors, victorious on their last visit back in 1984, when John Barnes famously clinched the win with a solo effort, were on the ropes in an absorbing first half which Brazil largely dominated, but held their own until 12 minutes after the restart when Fred scored for the South American giants.

But a neat strike from substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose father Mark played in the 1984 England success; followed by a rasping drive from Wayne Rooney turned the match on its head before Paulinho volleyed in eight minutes from time to level a contest held to mark the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the Maracana stadium.

England beat Brazil in a Wembley friendly back in February which marked the return to the auriverde's dugout of Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilians' 2002 World Cup-winning coach.

Sunday's match was even set to be called off after a local judge ruled on Thursday that the game could not go ahead as the Maracana did not, in her view, meet minimum safety requirements. The decision was overturned after city authorities scrambled an appeal before the Rio State government explained that a mandatory safety report had not been sent to the relevant local authority due to a "bureaucratic failure".