It was an exciting friendly between Brazil and England on Sunday at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, but for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain it was about taking over family traditions, as his father Mark Chamberlain scored for England against Brazil in 1984 and Ox managed to repeat his father’s feat by scoring England’s first goal before Rooney curled in the second England goal in the 2-2 draw.

England faced Republic of Ireland in a friendly at the Wembley stadium last week, where Oxlade-Chamberlain started, and nearly scored early in the second half with a glorious chance. However, despite Frank Lampard equalizing Shane Long’s 13th minute goal, England could not take the lead with their star studded lineup.

The Three Lions put things right in Brazil, after the disappointing draw this week as Roy Hodgson’s side looked much more like a team who can make an impact at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Luiz Filipe Scolari is at the helm of Brazil for a second time. Scolari had an extremely attacking squad during his first spell at the post, and won the World Cup for them, with players like Ronaldo but he has not been getting good results lately – just draws mainly.

The 20-year old Oxlade-Chamberlain has progressed well ever since he moved from Southampton to Arsenal. This season he made 33 appearances in all competitions, scoring 2 goals. Lack of goals has been a problem for the player, but his burst of pace, combined with his tenacity to get into the box and creating chances has been encouraging for the Arsenal supporters. However, getting international recognition and playing for the England side is a big step for the youngster, and he sure has a bright future ahead of him.

According to SkySports, Oxlade-Chamberlain realized the importance of the occasion, and speaking ahead of the game, he said, “I’m looking forward to getting there and seeing what it’s all about.”

“Hopefully I get a chance to play, with what my dad has done out there it adds a bit more history and a bit more of a proud feeling to be out there.”

“He’s not told me what to expect. If I asked what it’s like he would tell me, but he has not made a big fuss. I asked him once how he did and he just said he had a pretty good game.”

He felt England had a point to prove to the fans, and continued: “We want to take the disappointment we felt from Tuesday into the game against Brazil and put it right.”

“We want to make sure that we take the positives out of the performance, like how we did in the second half, into the next game and what better stage than the Maracana in Brazil to try and do something good.”

Well the “Ox” certainly did his part and helped England deliver a much improved performance from their game against Ireland.