DUNGA was always a different kind of Brazilian midfield player, one praised more for his workrate than for his class, and the team that he now manages plays the game that he once played. They are a good side with a great attitude, a skilful team with an admirable work ethic and they will be one of the big teams at next year’s World Cup. And yet this is a Brazil that the biggest guns, and England’s first XI, will respect rather than fear.

It is impossible to argue with how Dunga has gone about his business because he is not managing a vintage crop of his country's footballers. They are talented, as Brazilian sides generally are, but they are not a truly gifted group. Their comfortable victory over England’s second-string side was achieved through good organisation and an honest performance.

Of course, it might well have been 3-0 or 4-0 to Brazil but Luis Fabiano’s penalty, which soared well over the bar, was the miss that kept England within touch. In truth, the longer the game went on, the more comfortable Brazil were. They passed more accurately than England and in the intense heat that was always going to count more as the game progressed.

It wasn’t really a surprise that Brazil’s goal came from a moment of brilliant counterattacking. It wasn’t simply that Elano’s diagonal pass was perfectly flighted for Nilmer but that the left-sided attacker had timed his run so intelligently and then finished so brilliantly. It was a bad moment for Wes Brown but English defenders are not used to that kind of slickness.

But this was, more or less, Dunga’s best side against England's reserves and you sense that Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard would not have been overwhelmed by what they saw from the World Cup favourites.

Because of the emphasis given to organisation and defensive solidity, Gilberto Silva is Dunga’s on-field general and though the former Arsenal midfielder protected his back four and used the ball economically last evening, there were times when he struggled with the pace of the game. How he will cope with a World Cup tournament and a succession of tough games remains a moot point.

Even though England’s reserves didn’t play well and none of the understudies furthered their chances of breaking into Fabio Capello’s first XI, they still did enough to expose frailty in Brazil’s defence. Every time England crossed the ball deep to the far post, Brazil’s defence was stretched and the last such cross might have led to a goal but James Milner’s fine right-footed shot just cleared the crossbar.

What was impressive about Brazil was their obvious determination to win what was just a friendly match and their desire to do so with a clean sheet.

When Dunga played, he was a warrior and there is no doubt he has imbued his team with a similar spirit. Kaka is the team’s most talented player and he also works hard and plays for his teammates. Ronaldinho, who would never be Dunga’s kind of player, is most unlikely to figure in South Africa next year.

Dunga, of course, was an important player in the unspectacular and unloved Brazil team who won the World Cup in 1994, and it may well be that the current side are more talented and easier on the eye than that 1994 version. But Dunga will insist that being a little prettier than the 1994 team will be no consolation if the team don’t win next year’s World Cup.

There were aspects of last evening’s Brazil performance that were very impressive. Nilmer’s cleverness in reading Wes Brown’s intentions to create the penalty was a Brazlian touch, as was the willingness of the centre-backs, Thiago Silva and Lucio, to break forward when they got the chance. When Lucio made his run late in the game and struck the magnificent left-footed shot that thundered against the post, one was reminded that Brazil do have something different.

One had the same feeling very late on in the game when England lost the ball in midfield and Brazil suddenly saw the chance to counterattack. They simply swarmed forward, a line of five sweeping towards the England goal and when it fell to Maicon to play the cross, he struck the most delightful ball for the unmarked Nilmer at the back post.

Nilmer’s header looked certain to give him his second goal but Brown, covering desperately, got his body in the line of fire and fortunately blocked the ball with his head. He knew little about that but now, Capello and his on-pitch lieutenants know quite a bit about Dunga’s Brazil. Good but not unbeatable, a side to be respected but no more than that.