Roy Hodgson: Watches on at the Maracana alongside Luiz Felipe Scolari
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Roy Hodgson said he was disappointed that England were held to a 2-2 draw by Brazil but admitted it was probably a fair result.
In the first match at the newly re-opened Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Hodgson's side were completely outplayed by their hosts in the opening 45 minutes.
But there was a vast improvement after the restart and after Fred opened the scoring for Brazil in the 57th minute, two wonderful strikes from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wayne Rooney put England in front.
"Some draws can be labelled victories and some can be labelled defeats."
Roy Hodgson
But the lead lasted just four minutes as Paulinho struck a superb volley to ensure England drew for a second time in four days following Wednesday's 1-1 scoreline against the Republic of Ireland.
Hodgson said: "Some draws can be labelled victories and some can be labelled defeats.
"We were disappointed after the Ireland game, not to win that, and I suppose I'm disappointed today because we scored quite late on.
"But we were scotched by a wonder strike, I have to say, and I also have to say we didn't play anywhere near what we can in the first half and Brazil did, so it's a fair result over the 90 minutes."
The introduction of Oxlade-Chamberlain and a shift of tactics from Hodgson changed the pattern of the game and the England boss admitted the Arsenal midfielder had made a huge impact.
"He was very lively. Phil Jones was doing an excellent job but is really more of a defender playing in midfield," said Hodgson.
"Alex gets on the ball and gets turned around, he added another dimension and got his reward by scoring a very good goal."
Source : http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12016/8754724/Roy-Hodgson-hailed-Alex-Oxlaide-Chamberlain-after-England-s-draw-with-Brazil