Leader of the pack: Wayne Rooney, in his first game as England captain, argues with referee Abduiraham Abdou during his side's 1-0 defeat in an international friendly match against Brazil at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar

Wayne Rooney's first game as England captain ended in defeat as a severely depleted side were beaten by Brazil in Qatar. Fabio Capello's side fell victim to a goal early in the second period from Nilmar to leave England still without a win in eight matches on neutral territory against the Brazilians.

Fabiano also missed a penalty for Brazil, who unsurprisingly dominated possession. They were aided by an England midfield which gave the ball away far too easily and consequently the front two of Rooney and Darren Bent were starved of any worthwhile service.

But this was no vintage performance by Brazil and their trickery was largely confined to in front of the back four and goalkeeper Ben Foster, apart from an impressive spell after the break. Capello will now have four months to reflect on how many of his fringe players pushed their claims to be part of his World Cup plans before the next international in early March.

Only Aston Villa winger James Milner, who was making his full debut, could feel he furthered his cause to any significant effect. Gareth Barry and Rooney were the only first-choice players in the starting XI, in contrast to Brazil who were virtually at full strength.

England began promisingly and a low cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips just eluded the run of Rooney into the Brazilian box, but Dunga's side were soon in control and knocking the ball around in confident style. Kaka was pulling the strings and the Real Madrid star picked out the overlapping Michel Bastos whose cross-cum-shot fizzed just past Foster's left hand post.

Melo then showed neat skill to create space for himself on the edge of the box but his shot sailed straight at Foster. Kaka forced Foster to save away to his left with an angled drive after linking up well again with Fabiano as the half ended goalless.

But it needed only 90 seconds of the second half for Brazil to break the deadlock through Nilmar. Elano's dipping cross picked out the run of Nilmar, who got in between Lescott and Upson before arrowing his header past the dive of Foster into the corner of the net.

Bent had little opportunity to impress before he was substituted after 54 minutes and replaced by Jermain Defoe. A minute later Brazil had a golden chance to double their lead when goalscorer Nilmar was brought down in the area by Foster after Wes Brown had attempted to chest the ball back to him. Foster was shown a yellow card but England were given a reprieve when Fabiano sent his spot-kick high over the crossbar.

There was little to enthuse about in a low-key finale to the game as both teams made several substitutions, although Lucio crashed a shot against the post.