England's first visit to Brazil for 29 years will mark the end of a long drawn-out, $500-million programme to modernise the arena which will host seven matches at the 2014 World Cup, including the final.
"The Maracana looks lovely and it's really great to be back," Bebeto, 1994 World Cup-winning forward and member of Brazil's World Cup organising committee, told reporters. "It's always good to return. I feel at home."
However, Bebeto's former strike partner Romario, now an outspoken member of Brazil's Congress, disagreed and said the stadium had ceased to be the seething cauldron where he scored some of his greatest goals.
"What they've done is atrocious," he told reporters. "The stadium was the best stage in the world and the politicians and officials managed to destroy it. It's totally different."
Sunday's friendly will be the only professional match to be staged there before the Confederations Cup, regarded as a test event for the World Cup, kicks off on June 15.
It has witnessed Brazil lose the 1950 World Cup final to Uruguay, Pele's 1,000th goal, and the swagger of players such as Garrincha, Zico and Romario.
For half a century, crowds of more than 100,000 and reputedly sometimes nearly twice that have watched Rio's big four teams play there, as well as the national side and Pele's Santos, who often played important games there in the 1960s.
It underwent its first major overhaul in 1999 to prepare it for the following year's World Club Championship, when capacity was reduced to below six figures for the first time.
It was refurbished again for the 2007 Pan American Games, and the "Geral", a standing area close to the pitch, was removed, taking away even more of the heated atmosphere.
