Liverpool close in on £6m Spanish winger Luis Alberto
Liverpool expect to have wrapped up a deal within 48 hours to sign the 20-year-old Spanish winger Luis Alberto from Seville for around £6m.
England v Brazil - latest from Wembley
Minute-by-minute text commentary of England's friendly match against Brazil
-
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of England v Brazil, live, right here from Wembley.
While this is a friendly match, it's so much more than that with a heap of subplots to keep us entertained.
Ashley Cole will be making his 100th England appearance tonight, after Roy Hodgson revealed yesterday that the Chelsea left-back would be starting the game.
There will be a special presentation for him, along with Steven Gerrard who picked up his 100th cap in England's last match, away against Sweden.
England fans will perhaps be more interested in watching how the captain combines with Jack Wilshere in midfield. The duo start together for the first time in a pairing that has only seen them play for England at the same time for a total of 13 minutes.
In the away dug-out is Luiz Felipe Scolari, who, if history had taken a different course, could have been sitting in Roy Hodgson's seat. The World Cup winning manager turned the England job down in 2006. It's a decision that still "hurts" apparently.
We get a chance to have a closer look at the hosts of, and one of the favourites for, the 2014 World Cup. On show will be a bunch of players that only need one name to identify themselves - Neymar, Ronaldinho, Oscar, Moura... -
-
-
-
-
Ahead of the match, there will be a special presentation for Ashley Cole who is making his 100th England appearance tonight. The left-back has been a divisive figure over the years and in an interview yesterday made clear his only interest is the football, not winning the love of the fans. You can read more about it here. As his name was read out tonight there was still a few audible boos. Not many though.
-
Cole will join Steven Gerrard among the seven players to reach 100 caps for England. Where Cole differs from the other outfield players amongst that group is that he has never scored an international goal. In fact, if he fails to find the back of the net tonight he will become just the second outfield player in history to represent a team in the world's top 20 to reach 100 appearances and not score. Find out who the other one was here.
-
-
-
In midfield, Jack Wilshere makes a welcome return to the starting line-up. There is huge expectation around the Arsenal midfielder, which have only increased thanks to Steven Gerrard's assertion that the prospects for the 22-year-old are "frightening". You can read more about that, and how Wilshere is the natural heir to Gerrard's throne here.
-
Here are the line-ups in full...
England: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Smalling, Cole, Cleverley, Gerrard, Wilshere, Walcott, Rooney, Welbeck
Subs: Walker, Butland, Baines, Jagielka, Lescott, Milner, Lampard, Osman, Lennon, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Brazil: Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Luiz, Dante, Adriano, Paulinho, Ramires, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Luis Fabiano, Oscar.
Subs: Diego Alves, Filipe Luis, Leandro Castan, Miranda, Arouca, Jean, Lucas Moura, Fred, Hulk. -
Now what about England's opponents... They don't need much of introduction, but with England not having played them since 2009 - you might need a refresher on who to look out for tonight. Here's The Independent's selection of the players to watch.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
#Rooney!! Good first half hour for the #threelions
#Twitter92by Kike Muñiz via twitter 2/6/2013 8:05:42 PM -
-
-
-
-
-
I really hope Rooney plays that way against Real Madrid next weekby teknotica via twitter 2/6/2013 8:16:02 PM
-
1
Diary of Second World War German teenager reveals young lives untroubled by Nazi Holocaust in wartime Berlin
-
2
Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
-
3
Uri Geller psychic spy? The spoon-bender's secret life as a Mossad and CIA agent revealed
-
4
Viral video straps colt .45 handgun to a home-use drone
-
5
Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Learn a new language
Add another string to your bow with Rosetta Stone, whether it's Spanish, Italian or Mandarin...
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
