Sarina Wiegman felt lessons would be learnt after England suffered defeat in their first match since their Euro 2025 triumph.
The Lionesses paid the price for a poor start as they were beaten 2-1 by 10-player Brazil in the first friendly of their homecoming tour at the Etihad Stadium.
Manager Wiegman was frustrated by the loss but felt what proved a feisty contest against the Copa America winners could only stand her players in good stead as they build towards the 2027 World Cup.
Wiegman said: “Of course you hope for another result but I think this was a very good game to start with again after the Euros against a very good opponent.
“A South American opponent was really what we wanted because that’s different, more emotional, more extrovert. It’s good for us to have that in front of us. They played very direct.
“Of course we wanted to get a better result but I also think that we got a lot of challenges in this game that we really need to experience to know what we can improve.
“I think some things we did really well, and I think some things we didn’t do well. That’s really good to see because if you play an opponent that doesn’t give you those challenges, then you’re not going to learn enough.”
England conceded twice inside the opening 18 minutes as Bia Zaneratto and Dudinha struck for the fired-up visitors but the tone of the game changed when Brazil captain Angelina was sent off shortly afterwards.
Angelina was shown a straight red card for pulling down Ella Toone after 21 minutes but, despite a spirited response, England could pull only one back through a Georgia Stanway penalty.
Wiegman said: “After the red card we dominated the game. We had many opportunities but we just need to do a bit better in the execution and in some of those moments we were a bit sloppy too.”
Brazil will host the next World Cup and their coach Arthur Elias felt his team’s performance was very encouraging.
He said: “I think the team did really well throughout the whole game.
“There were two stories – before and after the red card. The game plan up until 2-0 and the red card was being very well executed.
“We scored twice and had opportunities against a great opponent, the two-time European champion with excellent players.
“After the red card of course there was resilience. We had to make maximum effort, which is something we have to have.
“This group has a lot of belief and understand how Brazil play. We are an efficient team.”
