“I’d take my No 10 over Brazil’s No 10, that’s for sure,” said Phil Neville after an early Fran Kirby header gave the Lionesses victory against a Brazilian side spearheaded by the mercurial Marta.

Having said pre-game that Lucy Bronze is his best player in the world and with England’s women never having played the South Americans, this was the left-back’s chance to cross the last name off her list of dream opponents.

But Brazil’s No 10, recently and controversially named Fifa’s player of the year for a record sixth time, lasted 20 minutes before signalling to the bench, clutching her hamstring. It was a muted appearance in the cold and there was only one chance for Bronze to go one-on-one with the player widely considered to be the best woman to have ever played, a challenge in which she came off better. Instead, it was Marta’s opposite number in white who would prove the game-changer.

“I don’t think Fran realises how much she can keep going, she doesn’t realise her full potential yet,” said Neville, who was disappointed his side did not score more. “There was a 10-to-15-minute period after half time where she was world-class.”

With these teams looking to test themselves against the best before next summer’s World Cup, the game began with a high tempo. Playing in a deeper role than she often does for Chelsea, Kirby found herself unmarked at the near post inside two minutes. A pinpoint cross from Nikita Parris was swung in and the shortest player on the pitch headed home.

By the break the Lionesses should have had more for the slick passing and movement of their front four. Kirby, Rachel Daly, Toni Duggan and Parris were seemingly too much for the shaky Brazil defence to handle. Somehow they did. With Parris’s pace getting the better of Camila every time, it was only the 24‑year‑old’s poor decision-making that prevented England from building on their early lead.

Brazil were struggling, with the loss of their centre-back Bruna Benites before the break that resulted in three players wearing the captain’s armband during the game. The seven-times Copa América champions, overrun in midfield, were still in the game. While fragile defensively, they have players going forward who can punish opposition.

In the 60th minute it looked as if England would regret not having done more with their domination as Formiga, by far Brazil’s best player, raced free of Steph Houghton and Millie Bright. Her movement was read well by Carly Telford, however, who blocked her shot.

Neville will likely line up much tougher friendlies before the World Cup in France. Brazil do not have the same careering style of their male counterparts and the closest they have come to lifting the World Cup was as runners-up in 2007.

A year ago, the Brazilian FA were handed the resignations of five high-profile internationals angry at the lack of support for the women’s national team. It seems things have improved a little but they are not near England’s level.

Neville will need to get his players scoring more freely if they are to challenge the top teams in the world, but here his side showed that the second-half fluidity against Wales was no fluke. They are starting to play his way.

“It’s coming,” he said. “Players just need repetition in the system to get confidence in the system. I want us to play total football. I didn’t think we played total football through the thirds but there were periods where we did play into midfield then penetrate through the wide areas.

“If things go wrong will we revert to route one? No, we’re going to live and die by this style.”