体坛英语新闻：Fred praises Brazil "spirit" in match against England

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Though Brazil's friendly match against England to re-inaugurate the iconic Maracana stadium ended in a 2-2 draw, the home team had good reason to be satisfied, striker Fred told Xinhua on Sunday.

"The team went well; the spirit was wonderful on and off the pitch. The fans put on a great party and supported us, and that is very important," the striker told Xinhua. "That makes us think that the whole match was very good, regardless of the draw."

Despite still recovering from a cracked rib, Fred played almost the entire match and scored the first goal in an official match at the revamped venue, which underwent almost three years of renovations ahead of this month's FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.

Later on, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain equalized for England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney scored a second goal for the visiting team. Ten minutes before the end of the match, Paulinho struck for Brazil to tie the scores again.

Fred's opinion was shared by striker Leandro Damiao.

"The team has improved a lot. Now we need to continue the work, there is another match," said Damiao, referring to the next friendly, against France, which will take place on June 9 in Porto Alegre.

The fixture will be Brazil's last chance to prepare ahead of their first Confederations Cup match against Japan on June 15 in Brazil's capital city Brasilia.