Samba time at Lansdowne
Irish football fans can look forward to seeing the most glamorous team in the world parade superstars like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho and World Cup captain, Cafu in a match that is certain to yield record gate receipts for the FAI.
The FAI will be able to put 48,000 tickets on sale as spectators will be allowed stand on the terraces because the match will be non-competitive.
The capacity of the stadium is critical because of the heavy appearance fee demanded by the Brazilian FA. They regularly command a fee of $600,000 (€471,000) for friendly matches.
Were the FAI obliged to confine the attendance to 22,000 to comply with FIFA's insistence on an all-seated presence then the promotion would not be financially feasible.
The FAI have been in negotiations with the Brazil FA since before Christmas and chased hard after this fixture.
Their success reflects the new, ambitious approach of the association's chief executive, Fran Rooney.
"We intend to have an abundance of world-class footballers playing in Dublin in the coming matches to offer the best possible opposition for our international team," he said.
Rooney was also able to confirm yesterday that the attractive Czech Republic team will play at Lansdowne Road in March.
They will include the current holder of the European player of the year title, Pavel Nedved of Juventus, in their side.
Irish fans will be drooling at the prospect of seeing the all-action, free-spirited, Brazilians up close. There is certain to be an immediate rush on tickets for Brazil's first visit to Ireland since 1987 when they lost 0-1 to a goal scored by Liam Brady.
That Brazilian team was somewhat below strength and not many of their players were as well-known as their current squad Josimar, Ricardo, Silas, Edu and Muller are names that will probably be recalled by fans.
They were team building at a time when Argentina and Maradona were world-champions following the World Cup in Mexico in 1986.
Manager Carlos Alberto Parreira has a much more familiar group of players in his current squad thanks to Brazil's magnificent win in the World Cup in Japan in June 2003 when they beat Germany 2-0 in the final with two goals from Ronaldo.
The blanket coverage of the European scene on TV nowadays has also helped to make household names, not only of those already named above, but also players like Lucio, Edmilson, Kaka, Kleberson, Gilberto Silva and Emerson.
This will be an expensive promotion for the FAI but an informed source last night said it was not their intention to raise admission prices.
Brazil had agreed to accept less than their usual match-fee and the FAI hoped to facilitate fans by keeping prices as close to the €35 average of their regular matches.
"I'm looking for as many matches as possible in preparation for our World Cup qualifiers in September," said Ireland's team manager Brian Kerr, "it is fantastic to be able to bring opposition of this calibre to Dublin.
"It's a great opportunity for our squad to show their abilities against the best in the world and will provide excellent preparation for World Cup 2006 qualifying games."
Brazil are having to contend with a new challenge over the next two years because for the first time FIFA have ordered that the reigning World champions must go through a qualifying tournament to play in the finals in Germany in 2006.
This departure from accepted practice is probably welcomed by Brazil, for nothing concentrates the mind as much as competitive football. They have suffered in the past because of a lack of competitive matches before final tournaments.
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