England and Brazil were locked in a goalless affair at half-time of their international friendly at the Wembley Stadium, north London, on Friday.

In a lively opening to new Wembley’s first night of international action, England had a slightly awkward moment to deal with as a Ronaldinho free-kick was not cleared at the first attempt only to see a scramble before the ball was finally cleared.

But on a resultant counter-attack led by Joe Cole, a Brazilian player dished out a cynical foul to the Chelsea winger to stop him in his tracks.

Kaka looked to wield his magic and characteristically hoodwinked a few rival defenders to create space but the AC Milan star failed to connect properly from just outside the penalty area.

David Beckham, back into the side for the first time after last summer’s World Cup, got big cheers from the sell out 90,000 gallery as he touched the ball and began with his trademark inch-perfect long balls.

The Real Madrid ace released a cross-field ball in the 12th minute into the rival box but it was a shade long for striker Michael Owen.

Beckham’s Real team-mate Robinho showed his skills while foxing Jamie Carragher, who was playing as a right-back, but the Brazilian wideman’s final shot was wide off the target.

Joe Cole was the first player to have a shot on target with his attempt from a longish range with the outside of his foot finding the waiting hands of Da Silva Helton in the 18th minute.

At the other end, Spurs skipper Ledley King did well to clear the ball to safety as a wily Ronaldinho had threatened with an incisive move.

It would have been an even more memorable outing for left-back Nicky Shorey, who made his full international debut, if he had kept his cross a bit lower flight as a few white shirts lurked in the penalty area, following a sharp move involving Beckham and Cole.

England had a great opportunity to punish Brazil as Daniel Alves’ mis-pass fell to Beckham, who sprinted forward and instead of going for the goal, which would have been a nice option, he crossed to Cole on the left only to see the South Americans clear the danger.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard turned from winning a superb defensive challenge on Kaka to getting a free-kick in England’s favour in a space of a minute or two to set up a shot from Beckham from 20 yards that however curled agonisingly close to the Brazil goal at the half-hour mark.

Dunga’s side looked a bit more assertive there after as Ronaldinho and Kaka came into their own with the passage of time but the Three Lions looked very committed and rallied behind the ball. The game however was devoid of much pace and held a very tactical and tight look at it.

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