The late equaliser meant it was not to be a dream return to the national side for Beckham in what was the first full international to be played at the new Wembley.

The spotlight was on England's former captain as he made his debut under Steve McClaren and he did well enough to earn a rapturous round of applause from the 88,000-strong crowd when he was replaced by Jermaine Jenas with just over ten minutes remaining.

It was his teasing free kick to the back post on 68 minutes that invited Terry to attack and meet the ball with a powerful header to give England the lead.

But without Beckham on the pitch in the closing stages, England let slip their lead when Diego ghosted into the penalty area to head past Paul Robinson in the second minute of added time at the end of the game.

In terms of creating real goalscoring chances, England were hardly prolific but, a Wes Brown slip aside, the home side's defence did well to hold strong for 91 minutes and keep out an admittedly tame-looking Brazil strike force.

For the majority of the game, England largely failed to create anything up front for Michael Owen or Alan Smith, as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard played virtually on the edge of their own penalty areas.

Brazil were unlucky not to take the lead on the half hour mark, when Gilberto Silva guided a header from Robinho's clipped cross into the back of the net, only to see his effort chalked off for offside. Replays later showed that, while two of his team-mates were in an offside position, the Arsenal midfielder himself was not.

Early on, Beckham had displayed all of his trademark precision passing, enthusiasm and running, but as the match went on, his influence waned until his free kick led to the goal.

The Real Madrid man very nearly unlocked the Brazilian defence after 11 minutes, but his floated pass towards Owen was ever-so-slightly over-hit and the ball ran through to goalkeeper Helton.

Again, it was Beckham who was the architect behind England's best chance of the first half. Steven Gerrard won a free kick 25 yards out, but with the headline writers' pens hovering in anticipation, Beckham fired his effort inches wide of the post.

As for Brazil, for all their fancy flicks and nice touches, the visitors also had to rely on a free kick to register their best chance of the first half. Ronaldinho took it, but as with Beckham's earlier effort, the ball flew just wide of the upright.

In the England goal, Paul Robinson had to wait until after the break before he was forced into his first meaningful save of the match. The disappointing Ronaldinho fired a shot that was deflected off Ledley King, but Robinson reacted quickly and tipped the ball over for a corner just after the restart.

Minutes later England won their first corner of the game, but Beckham's cross failed to trouble the Brazil back line.

Owen, still looking to regain fitness after the best part of the entire season out, could have marked his own return to the national side with a goal, but his header on 57 minutes looped onto the top of the net.

Stuart Downing tested Helton with his second touch after having replaced Joe Cole just after the hour mark as he unleashed a well struck effort from 25 yards that seemed destined for the roof of the net.

Brazil were limited to a handful of chances, Brown's slip with his first touch which allowed in Alves Afonso nearly gifting the visitors an equaliser with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Afonso saw a header fly over the bar minutes later and Robinson flapped at a Ronaldhino free kick with time running out, but nevertheless, England will feel hard done by to have let slip their lead so late on.