JUST like watching Brazil? Actually, it was more like watching England. After the excitement of Friday’s shutout with Germany, this was a goalless England game much more in keeping with so many of the national team’s performances at recent major championships. Perhaps we shouldn’t be heralding the emergence of a bold new generation just yet.

Admittedly, England were playing against a Brazil side that will deservedly start next summer’s World Cup finals in Russia as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, and a clean sheet against an attack featuring Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho is not to be taken lightly.

Joe Hart was rarely extended in the England goal, with John Stones excelling at the heart of a three-man defence. Joe Gomez, who does not turn 21 until May, was equally accomplished as he made his first England start, and the Liverpool defender has been one of the big winners from the last five days. The likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and even Gary Cahill will be growing increasingly nervous about their World Cup place.

Further up the field, though, England were found wanting, and having failed to score in back-to-back home games, Gareth Southgate’s team are clearly hugely reliant on the goalscoring prowess of Harry Kane. The Tottenham striker has scored seven of England’s last 11 goals. Without him, the team is devoid of an attacking focal point, and more than any other player, Kane’s fitness and form will be central to England’s chances of achieving anything in Russia.

Marcus Rashford brings inventiveness, Jamie Vardy provides non-stop running, but England do not have a goalscorer that even comes close to matching Kane. Expect plenty of fretting about the state of his metatarsals in the next seven months.

Southgate’s youngsters earned rave reviews for their performance on Friday night, but that came against a Germany side featuring plenty of changes of their own. Last night was always going to be different.

Brazil bring a frisson of excitement to wherever they pitch up, but after a series of embarrassments at both their home World Cup and the most recent Copa America, the last 12 months has witnessed the development of a Brazilian side that looks capable of living up to both the style and success of some of its predecessors.

The appointment of head coach Tite has proved a masterstroke, with the respected former Corinthians boss having led his side to the top of South America’s qualifying group while their continental rivals, Argentina, were forced to scramble to Russia in their final game.

This was Brazil’s first outing against European opposition for two years though, and was therefore never going to be a night when the big names were rested. So while the likes of Kane, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling watched on from afar, Dani Alves, Coutinho, Jesus and Neymar were strutting their stuff at Wembley. To add to the sense of occasion, they were even wearing their traditional yellow and blue.

Slick from the off, Brazil’s players barely afforded their opponents a touch of the ball in the opening quarter-of-an-hour. With Jesus playing down the middle, and Neymar and Coutinho forming a three-pronged attack on either side of the Manchester City striker, the visitors asked some searching questions of England’s new-look three-man defence.

Neymar blazed over the crossbar after cutting in from the left-hand side, and Jesus forced Hart into his first save of the night with a glanced header from Alves’ cross, but in the main, England’s defenders coped admirably despite Harry Maguire displaying some alarming signs of nerves.

Southgate admits he needs the security of three centre-halves if he is going to play with a floating attacking midfielder, in this case Ruben Loftus-Cheek for the opening half-an-hour and Jesse Lingard thereafter, playing behind two centre-forwards, and Stones certainly looks much more comfortable with defenders on either side of him.

Having impressed on Friday evening, Stones played well again last night, and while there have been times when Manchester City’s £50m man has struggled to live up to his billing, he is finally starting to look like the linchpin of England’s backline. One first-half block to prevent Neymar breaking into the box was especially impressive.

England’s first-half attacking was largely non-existent, and while he might have caused problems against Germany, Loftus-Cheek found things much more difficult last night. The best Brazilian sides have always known how to blend solidity with style, and in Real Madrid’s Casemiro, the current line-up boast a defensive midfielder to rank alongside the world’s best.

He shut things down effortlessly as England struggled to get players into the final third, and as a result, Loftus-Cheek was barely glimpsed as an attacking force before he was forced off with an injury 11 minutes before the break. With just two more England games before Southgate names his squad for Russia, the Crystal Palace midfielder would have been hoping to make much more of an impact.

The same would have been true of a number of his team-mates, with England’s only threat before the break coming from a long-range Rashford effort that thudded into the chest of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson.

Rashford was industrious if somewhat ineffective in attack, with his strike partner, Jamie Vardy, also struggling to get beyond the Brazilian backline. At least they were offering something though. Jake Livermore’s international career continues to be an unfathomable mystery, and for all that he is a different type of central midfielder, Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey must wonder how on earth he is behind his rival from West Brom in the England pecking order. Similarly, Lingard is yet to do anything in an England shirt to justify Southgate’s obvious faith in him.

The England boss also continues to back Hart despite the goalkeeper’s struggles at last year’s European Championships and this summer’s qualifier with Scotland. Jordan Pickford is clearly the coming force in English goalkeeping, but Southgate seems reluctant to throw Hart onto the scrapheap just yet. In fairness to the West Ham goalkeeper, he suffered few scares here, although he was forced to leave his line early in the second half to save Coutinho’s sliding shot with his legs.

He was beaten once, in the 75th minute, but while Fernandinho’s low strike evaded his right hand, it clipped the outside of the post. Ten minutes later, and Hart was called into action for a final time, keeping out Paulinho’s driven effort as he shielded his goal with his chest.

England’s best chance of the night came in the final minute, but substitute Dominic Solanke was unable to control a deep cross at the back post, enabling Alisson to leave his line to smother the ball.