The meeting of one great footballing mind and Dunga

Brazil take on England in Doho, Qatar, for the first of three international friendlies before the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Dunga's men see the England game as a real test against one of their main contenders in the competition in 2010.

Cris gets a header in

Following injuries to Luisão and Fábio Aurélio, Brazil coach Dunga has called up defender Cris from Lyon for the matches against England on Saturday and Oman three days later.

The 32-year-old has appeared 22 times for his country scoring just once. Cris' last game for Brazil was in in the 1-0 vs Russia in March 2006.

Milan's Thiago Silva

AC Milan centreback, Thiago Silva, has been brought in to replace Benfica's Luisão, who has just had surgery for appendicitis.

The 25-year-old's last appearance for Brazil was in February this year when he came on as a sub in the friendly against Italy in the Emirate Stadium.

Fábio Aurélio

On Thursday, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced that Liverpool's Fábio Aurélio has a problem with his left calf muscle and would not face England in Qatar on November 14th and Oman three days later. The last time the leftback was called up for Brazil was by Carlos Alberto Parreira for the Confederations Cup in 2003.

Kaká

For their final fixture of the year, Brazil take on Oman in Muscat this Tuesday.

Coached by French man Claude Le Roy, Oman are ranked 79th in the world. Brazil are expected to win comfortably but Dunga added a note of caution: "They're a strong team and have experienced athletes who play abroad.