Despite England’s defeat to Brazil, Declan Rice didn’t leave empty-handed, receiving a memorable souvenir from Vinicius Jr.
The match at Wembley was a thrilling affair, with both sides squandering chances until Brazil’s prodigy, 17-year-old Endrick, scored the decisive goal in the 80th minute.
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This victory marked Brazil’s first triumph over the Three Lions on their turf in four years, and Endrick set a record as the youngest scorer at Wembley for either a club or national team.
While Endrick’s fame hasn’t reached the heights of his teammate Vinicius, many England players were eager to swap shirts with the latter post-match. However, it was Rice, the Arsenal midfielder, who walked away with a prized possession.
Post-match, Vinicius summoned his Real Madrid colleague Jude Bellingham in the Wembley corridor. In a playful exchange, he asked if Bellingham wanted his shirt autographed as they exchanged jerseys. Bellingham responded with a chuckle and a playful ‘No quiero’—Spanish for ‘I don’t want it.’
Bellingham ✖️ Vinicius ✖️ Rodrygo ????????????????????????????????????????pic.twitter.com/Oj4TUXTYyh
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) March 24, 2024
The duo came prepared with two shirts each. Bellingham handed one to Vinicius and another to Rodrygo, his clubmate at Real Madrid.
Bellingham seemed puzzled about the recipient of Vinicius’ second shirt. Upon inquiry, Vinicius revealed it was intended for Rice, who likely requested it during the match.
An England staff member then delivered the shirt to their dressing room, while Bellingham headed to the Brazil quarters, exchanging pleasantries and a warm embrace with Rodrygo.
Reacting to the defeat, Bellingham posted on social media: ‘Always a pleasure to put on an England shirt and play at Wembley. Unlucky with the result but more motivation for Tuesday.’
England are in action again on Tuesday against Belgium, who are rated number four in the world, and Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate is looking forward to the match.
He said: ‘Belgium have played a different 11 probably, or close to, 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 in the end when you lose the game then there will always be a negative reaction to losing.
‘But my thought was, with 15 minutes to go given all the changes that we’d made, I thought the crowd was already with the team.
‘They could see a lot of young players going in and doing well, a lot of very inexperienced players going in and doing well, so I’m not down on the performance of the team at all.’
