A fantastic weekend of Football. The Brazil-England match at the new Maracana was a vibrant, joyous occasion with a good diplomatic result. I was honoured to meet so many people, including the legendary Zagallo who could talk about the 1950 World Cup final in the Maracana as well as about the prospects for the 2014 final.
You’ll see I had a word about tactics with England manager Roy Hodgson before the match.
Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones
We had a GREAT brunch at Fluminense Football Club. This included representatives of businesses as well as people from the worlds of sport and government. We look forward to an ever stronger relationship with Fluminense including on their project for a visit by Exeter City FC next year to mark the 100th anniversary of Fluminense match against them, the first against a foreign professional team.
After four and a half years of declining to announce my support for a Brazilian team I told everyone at the brunch “ Eu sou fluminense”.
We also had teams from the British Army with us, male and female, playing through the week and – like the England team – getting involved with community projects too. A wonderful way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Football Association.