England's stand-in captain Wayne Rooney conceded Brazil were the better team in the pair's 1-0 friendly defeat in Qatar, while admitting that the defeat still hurt.

The Manchester United striker was handed the armband in the absence of the injured John Terry but could not inspire Fabio Capello's injury-hit side against the five-time FIFA World Cup™ winners.

Nilmar's 47th-minute header proved the difference between the two teams. And the Villarreal front-runner also won a penalty after being brought down by goalkeeper Ben Foster, which was subsquently blazed over by Luis Fabiano.

"It was a difficult game for us. Brazil were the better team and deserved to win," said Rooney. "Brazil move the ball really well and make you chase it, which is really hard to do for 90 minutes."

"We should have put more pressure on the first ball (for the goal). I'm not sure how he (Nilmar) has got in between the defence. We are looking to improve. Thankfully it is only a friendly but it is always difficult to take a defeat."

Meanwhile, coach Capello felt England would have put in a better performance had they been able to call upon their first-choice line-up.

Missing from the team in Qatar were goalkeeper David James, defenders Glen Johnson, Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and striker Emile Heskey.

"I think we played against a Brazil team who have the best 11 in the world. My first 11 will be better than this one. But I found a lot of things positive," said the experienced Italian. "I understand the value of some of the players I was checking on in this game to see how they play against teams like this."

"We did some things well but it is very difficult to play against Brazil. They defended very well and against them it is difficult to create chances. The way we played in the first half was good enough but after the goal we lost position on the pitch."