Scolari rules out changes for Brazil-France friendly

Rio de Janeiro: Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari ruled out any major changes in his team to face France June 9, despite an unconvincing 2-2 draw against England at the refurbished Maracana Stadium.

"If I had to play again in three days I would put the same team out in the first half. We will see what happens during the week but it`s likely we are going to repeat today`s line-up," Scolari said after Brazil`s match against England Sunday. Scolari made three surprises to his team with Atletico Mineiro`s Filipe Luis taking the place of Real Madrid`s Marcelo at left-back, Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo starting ahead of Gremio`s Fernando and Zenit St. Petersburg forward Hulk preferred to Paris Saint-Germain`s Lucas. The 64-year-old reacted angrily when asked why he had replaced Hulk with holding midfielder Fernando in the 72nd minute with the scores tied at 1-1. Minutes earlier, fans had booed the coach for taking off Chelsea midfielder Oscar, until then the team`s best player. "There are some things that fans don`t know and I can`t go explaining things all the time. For example, Marcelo has been injured and could only play 45 minutes. Oscar played 71 times this season. I don`t expect the public to understand but today the crowd was magnificent," Scolari said. IANS