ENGLAND defender Wes Brown expects to get a taster of what the latter stages of the World Cup will be like when Fabio Capello’s men take on Brazil at the weekend.

Brown, 30, is among the players in the squad for Saturday’s friendly in Qatar when England face one of the favourites for South Africa next year.

“We’ve qualified for the World Cup now and we might as well play the best,” said the Manchester United defender.

“You hope that you can reach the latter stages of tournaments and you need to know what you’re up against, this is the perfect opportunity to do that.

“It’s good that we’re playing Brazil, it’s going to be a difficult game but it’s a great occasion building up to the World Cup.”

Brown, who is likely to start at right-back but has played centre-back for his club recently, added: “You always have to be on your very best form against them as they have always been one of the strongest teams in world football.

“They have so much technical ability and they punish teams – that’s why they’ve won so many World Cups. I think it’s going to be another experience for the lads coming up to the World Cup next year.

“It’s going to be a different atmosphere, and there will be the heat as well to contend with, but it’s all about getting used to playing different teams from different continents.”

Brown is looking for a victory to give him bragging rights over his Brazilian team-mates at United, Anderson and the Da Silva twins.

“They always say that Brazil will win it obviously, and they have won more World Cups but it’s good banter,” Brown said.

“The three lads at United are very good technically, as you would expect being Brazilian, and that’s something we’ll come up against at the World Cup.”

Brown is also looking to bounce back from United’s defeat at Chelsea on Sunday, adding: “I thought we were unlucky to get beat but that’s how foot-ball goes sometimes. We’ve got to keep our heads up now and just carry on.”

Meanwhile Aston Villa right-back Luke Young may have ended his outside chance of a place in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad by staying in international retirement.

The 30-year-old told the FA last season he was no longer available for selection, but he was asked about his availability ahead of the Brazil friendly this week when Glen Johnson returned to Liverpool for treatment on an injury. An FA spokesman confirmed: “The England management were aware of Luke Young’s position but yesterday sought to clarify this.”