Spain 2-0 England: Spanish Class Tells in Seville

Spain wrapped up their third consecutive victory over England as Fabio Capello’s team suffered only their second defeat under the Italian and their first in nine matches.

David Villa’s first-half goal rewarded Spain’s superiority in possession as they eventually took the lead ten minutes before half time.

Fernando Llorente added a late header as the European Champions proved themselves a class above their opponents on the night.

Carlton Cole had a late effort cleared off the line for England’s best chance in a match that the Three Lions will only remember for David Beckham equalling Bobby Moore’s outfield appearance record as a halftime substitute.

England had the best of the early chances with Gabriel Agbonlahor firing a half volley narrowly wide on his left foot after a decent cross from Gareth Barry. Captain John Terry also put a header just wide from a corner, provided by Middlesbrough man Stewart Downing from the left.

However, such chances were against the run of play as Spain enjoyed the better possession, seemingly keeping the ball at will for long periods, orchestrated mainly by the outstanding Xavi.

Yet, for all of their crisp passing they were limited to shots from distance for most of the first half with Marcos Senna and Xabi Alonso both having reasonable efforts from outside the box keeping David James on his toes.

The breakthrough eventually came on 36 minutes when Phil Jagielka, making his first start for England, gave the ball away far too cheaply with a sloppy misplaced pass out of defence.

The ball fell straight to Alonso for quickly picked out Villa ahead of him. The Valencia man appeared to get the ball stuck under his feet but managed to skilfully manoeuvre his way around both Terry and Jagielka before calmly rolling the ball past James from 15 yards into the bottom corner.

Villa’s goal was enough to give Spain the advantage going into the break and the interval saw the usual plethora of substitutions common to friendly fixtures, England making five changes—including the introduction of Beckham for his record equalling 108th cap—while Vicente Del Bosque limited the hosts to two changes.

The European Champions continued to look imperious in possession in the second half, albeit without offering much of a goal threat in the final third, but at 1-0 up they were in control of the game.

David Beckham offered his usual enterprise and picked out a glorious cross-field ball to Shaun Wright-Phillips who cut inside Sergio Ramos on the edge of the box before firing in a shot which replacement ‘keeper Pepe Reina could only gather at the second attempt.

Carlton Cole was given his debut as England’s final permitted substitute but it was Spain’s substitute striker who provided the knockout blow. Athletic Bilbaostriker Fernando Llorente scoring with a powerful header from Xavi’s free kick, the forward’s first goal for his country and one which finally put the game beyond England.

However, Cole had a great chance to mark his debut with a goal as Beckham burst through the midfield before putting the West Ham striker clean through on goal. Cole rounded Reina but was forced into a tight angle and his left footed shot was cleared off the line by the covering Marchena.

Defeat against the world’s No. 1 ranked team will give Capello and his players much to consider as for all their progress up until now they still came up well short against opposition who on this form will surely be considered Europe’s only threat to Brazil and Argentina next year in South Africa.

Lineups

Spain

Casillas (c) (Reina, 46), Sergio Ramos, Albiol (Marchena, 75), Piqué, Capdevilla (Arbeloa, 46), Senna, Xabi Alonso, Xavi (Guiza, 85), Iniesta, Villa (Silva, 56), Torres (Llorente, 64)

England

James (Green, 46), Johnson, Jagielka (Upson, 46), Terry (c), A. Cole, Wright-Phillips, Carrick, Barry (Lampard, 46), Downing (Beckham, 46), Heskey (Crouch, 46), Agbonlahor (C. Cole, 75)