Snubbed Brazil Star Pato Grabs Brace For AC Milan In Friendly

The attacking starlet continued his good run of form.

Nov 13, 2009 5:15:55 PM

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Alexandre Pato - Milan (Getty Images)

AC Milan have had a resurgent last month or so, as they have seen themselves climb from mid-table mediocrity all the way to third place, where they sit just two points behind Juventus.

One of their stars this season has undoubtedly been Alexandre Pato, a man who has scored eight times in all competitions, including a stunning brace at the Santiago Bernabeu, to lead his side to a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The youngster was recently snubbed from Dunga’s Brazilian national team for their upcoming friendlies against England and Oman.

Nevertheless, the 20-year-old has made the most of his omission in a friendly match that Milan played against a local club.

The Milanese giants won 2-0, thanks to a brace from Pato, who grabbed a goal within the first minute of play, and then another midway through the first half.

Meanwhile, Alessandro Nesta was rested from the clash, after having nasal surgery, whilst Dida held his place in between the sticks. Pippo Inzaghi was at his best, however despite hitting the post on a couple of occasions, he failed to score.

Milan are unbeaten in their past eight outings in all competitions, and they will be confident of continuing this impressive run when they meet Cagliari at San Siro after the international break.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/86/italy/2009/11/13/1623498/snubbed-brazil-star-pato-grabs-brace-for-ac-milan-in

England to face Brazil on Saturday

Two of the world’s best soccer sides, England and Brazil, will face each other in an international friendly this weekend from Qatar as they continue their individual preparations for next summer’s World Cup.

England coach Fabio Capello has made a point of testing his team against World Cup contenders such as Spain, Germany and The Netherlands over the past year and this latest match will take place at the 50,000-seat Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Saturday evening.

The last time England played Brazil was to celebrate the opening of the new Wembley Stadium in June of 2007 and the teams drew with one goal apiece. However, the bookmakers are slightly favouring Brazil this time out with SportingBet.com offering punters odds of 21/20 on the South Americans emerging triumphant.

Slightly longer, VictorChandler.com, 888Sport.com, Bet365.com, ToteSport.com, BlueSq.com, Ladbrokes.com and ExtraBet.com currently show odds of 11/10 for Brazil while BetFred.com is going with 6/5 alongside Expekt.com, StanJames.com and Coral.co.uk.

As both teams have already qualified for next summer’s action, there could be quite a bit of squad experimentation. Even so, WBX.com is offering Brazil at odds of 21/17 while PaddyPower.com and SkyBet.com show 5/4 followed by Betfair.com with 24/19 and BetDaq.com with 14/11.

England is currently third favourite to win the 2010 World Cup at odds of 6/1 with BetFred.com, SkyBet.com and Ladbrokes.com. This is behind Brazil and Spain at 9/2 and a defeat this weekend for either team could see those odds lengthen considerably.

SkyBet.com and Coral.co.uk are offering England at odds of 7/4 to win against Brazil while BetFred.com is going with 15/8. Punters can get 19/10 from BoyleSports.com while Ladbrokes.com, WilliamHill.com, ToteSport.com and StanJames.com currently list 2/1.

Not entirely bad, PaddyPower.com and Expekt.com show England at odds of 21/10 while Bet365.com, VictorChandler.com, BlueSq.com 888Sport.com and ExtraBet.com have 11/5 followed by SportingBet.com with 9/4.

Considering Brazil’s past pedigree, a draw could almost be seen as a win for England.

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