London, March 24: Real Madrid-bound Endrick became the youngest men’s player to score an international goal at Wembley as Brazil beat England 1-0 in a friendly.
Endrick, who will move from Palmeiras to Madrid at the end of the season when he turns 18, struck nine minutes after coming on as a second half substitute.
“My family is here, my girlfriend, my agents. I am not much of a crier, I am holding myself, but this is something unique and I am very happy,” he said.
Based on his second half cameo, Madrid has secured another major talent for the future.
Coming on for Rodrygo in the 71st minute, Endrick wasted little time to make his mark, firing into an empty net after Vinicius Junior was denied by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Endrick could not hide his delight as he raced away in celebration and dropped to his knees – even though he did have to wait for VAR to confirm the goal following a check for offside.
It was his first senior goal for Brazil and, at the age of 17 years, 246 days, a record for an international game at Wembley, according to statistician Opta.
He might have scored another, but could not beat Pickford with a late chance.
“All of this affected me a little at the end, the chance I had at the end. I will not lie,” Endrick said. “I was just thinking about scoring. I could only think about that. I couldn’t think about the match any longer.” Ultimately, his one goal was enough to win the match and end England’s 21-game unbeaten streak at the national stadium.
“We know he’s a dangerous player. He’s managed to follow in for the goal,” Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate said. “We should have defended the goal better than we did. It’s a brilliant moment for him.
Madrid secured a deal for Endrick in December 2022 when he was just 16 but already tipped to be one of Brazil’s next stars. Brazilian media said the transfer was worth nearly 60 million euros ($64 million).
As well as losing the match, England had a potential setback when defender Kyle Walker suffered a suspected hamstring injury. He was taken off after 20 minutes following treatment on the field.
“He is feeling something, but he is not a player that is injured very often so he is not quite certain what it is,” Southgate said. “We will have to assess it over the next couple of days.” Southgate also said Harry Kane will return to Bayern Munich and not take part in Tuesday’s friendly against Belgium.
Germany blank France 2-0
Toni Kroos returned and Florian Wirtz scored the fastest Germany goal ever as they defeated France 2-0 in their friendly.
Kroos, coaxed out of international retirement for the upcoming European Championship, wasted no time with a precise pass for Wirtz, who let fly from outside the penalty area to score in off the crossbar after seven seconds.
Kroos later confirmed they worked on the move in training.
The German football federation said it was the quickest goal ever scored in a national team game. The previous best was nine seconds by Lukas Podolski in a 2013 win over Ecuador.
Kai Havertz made it 2-0 after the break and Antonio Rüdiger produced a late goal-line clearance as the smiles returned to the German national team.
“It will do a lot of good,” Germany sporting director Rudi Völler said. “We always hoped and tried, also in the last games, to spark a bit of euphoria and I think we achieved it with a game like that.”
France, in contrast, was whistled derisively by the home fans at fulltime.
It was Germany’s second consecutive win over France, but only its third win in 11 games, giving Julian Nagelsmann’s team a timely boost before they host Euro 2024 this summer. (AP)
