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Wednesday, 11 February 2009
A Cruzcampo International Friendly Match

Spain 2 England 0 [1-0]

Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, Nervion, Sevilla
Attendance: 42,102; Kick-off: 10.06pm CET, 9.06pm GMT;
Live on ITV One (UK) - Commentator: Peter Drury

Spain - David Villa (dribble then thirteen-yard shot 36 35:15), Fernando Llorente (82 header from a free-kick 81:40). Match Summary
Spain Squad
England Squad
Results 2005-2010 England - David Beckham (90+1).

England kicked-off. 93 minutes (46 & 47).

 

Match Summary

 

Officials from France

Spain

Type

England
Referee (charcoal) - Stéphane Laurent Lannoy
39 (18 September 1969), Boulogne-sur-Mer, FIFA-listed since 2006;

Assistant Referees - Eric Dansault, 38 (14 September 1968) and Laurent Ugo, 35 (7 June 1973).

Fourth official - David Fernández Borbalán, 35 (30 May 1973), Almería.

6 Goal Attempts 8
4 Attempts on Target 4
0 Hit Bar/Post 0
4 Corner Kicks Won 2
3 Offside Calls Against 2
16 Fouls Conceded 20
57.1% Possession 42.9%

Spain Team

 

Current European Champions

Colours: Made by Adidas - Red crew neck jerseys with yellow piping and Adidas sleeve trim, navy blue shorts with yellow Adidas side trim, navy blue socks with yellow Adidas trim.
Rank: FIFA (11th February 2009) 1st
EFO ranking Group 2

ELO rating 1st
Capt: Iker Casillas.
Xavier Hernández for the second half
until the 85th min.
Manager: Vicente del Bosque Gonzalez, 58 (23 December 1950), appointed 11 March 2008, effective 29 June 2008;
7th match, W 7 - D 0 - L 0 - F 18 - A 1;
Spain Lineup
1 Casillas Fernández, Iker, off 46th min. 27 20 May 1981 G Real Madrid CF 89 0
2 Albiol Tortajada, Raül, off 75th min. 23 4 September 1985 CD Valencia CF 11 0
3 Piqué i Bernabéu, Gerard 22 2 February 1987 CD FC Barcelona 1 0
15 Ramos García, Sergio 22 30 March 1986 RB Real Madrid CF 46 4
19 Senna da Silva, Marcos A. 32 17 July 1976 CM Villarreal CF 22 1
6 Iniesta Luján, Andrés 24 11 May 1984 LM FC Barcelona 35 6
7 Villa Sánchez, David, off 56th min. 27 3 December 1981 F Valencia CF 42 25
8 Hernández i Creus, Xavier, off 85th min. 29 25 January 1980 RM FC Barcelona 69 8
9 Torres Sanz, Fernando J., off 64th min. 24 20 March 1984 F Liverpool FC, England 59 18
14 Alonso Olano, Xabier 27 25 November 1981 CM Liverpool FC, England 54 3
11 Capdevila Méndez, Joan, off 46th min. 31 3 February 1978 LB Villarreal CF 30 4
Spain Substitutes
scoreline: Spain 1 England 0
25 Reina Páez, José M., on 46th min. for Casillas 26 31 August 1982 G Liverpool FC, England 13 0
23 Arbeloa Coca, Álvaro, on 46th min. for Capdevila 26 17 January 1983 LB Liverpool FC, England 5 0
21 Silva, David Josué J., on 56th min. for Villa 23 8 January 1986 M Valencia CF 21 3
16 Llorente Torres, Fernando, on 64th min. for Torres 23 26 February 1985 F Athletic Club Bilbao 2 1
4 Marchena López, Carlos, on 75th min. for Albiol 29 31 July 1979 CD Valencia CF 49 2
scoreline: Spain 2 England 0
17 Güiza, Daniel G., on 85th min. for Hernández 28 17 August 1980 F Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey 13 2
result: Spain 2 England 0
unused substitutes: 5-Sergio Busquets, 10-Albert Riera, 18-Santiago Cazorla, 20-Juanito.
 
4-4-2 Casillas (Reina) -
Ramos, Piqué, Albiol
(Marchena), Capdevila (Arbeloa) -
Hernández
(Güiza), Senna, Alonso, Iniesta -
Villa
(Silva), Torres (Llorente)

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 26.2 Appearances/Goals 41.6 6.3

 

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (11th February 2009) 8th
EFO ranking Group 2

ELO rating 5th to 6th
Colours: The 2007 home shirt - White v-neck jersey with red horizontal stripe/navy double diamond trim and abstract side panel, white shorts with navy pintrim/double diamond, white socks with navy thin band/double diamond.
Capt: John Terry, nineteenth captaincy Manager: Fabio Capello, 62 (18 June 1946), appointed 14 December 2007, effective 7 January 2008, 
11th match, W 8 - D 1 - L 2 - F 25 - A 10.
England Lineup
1 James, David B., off 46th min. 38 1 August 1970 G Portsmouth FC 46 39ᵍᵃ
2 Johnson, Glen M. 24 23 August 1984 RB Portsmouth FC 11 0
3 Cole, Ashley 28 20 December 1980 LB Chelsea FC 69 0
4 Carrick, Michael 27 28 July 1981 CM Manchester United FC 16 0
5 Jagielka, Philip N., off 46th min. 26 17 August 1982 CD Everton FC 2 0
6 Terry, John G. 28 7 December 1980 CD Chelsea FC 49 5
7 Wright-Phillips, Shaun C. 27 25 October 1981 RM
/LM
Manchester City FC 23 4
8 Barry, Gareth, off 46th min. 27 23 February 1981 CM Aston Villa FC 27 1
9 Heskey, Emile W.I., off 46th min. 31 11 January 1978 F Aston Villa FC 51 5
10 Downing, Stewart, off 46th min. 24 22 July 1984 LM Middlesbrough FC 22 0
11 Agbonlahor, Gabriel I., off 75th min. 22 13 October 1986 F Aston Villa FC 2 0
England Substitutes
scoreline: Spain 1 England 0
12 Green, Robert P., on 46th min. for James 29 18 January 1980 G West Ham United FC 2 2 ᵍᵃ
14 Upson, Matthew J., on 46th min. for Jagielka 29 18 April 1979 CD West Ham United FC 13 1
17 Beckham, David R.J., on 46th min. for Downing 33 2 May 1975 RM AC Milan, Italy, on loan from LA Galaxy, United States. 108 17
Beckham was cautioned in the 91st minute for Dissent.
18 Lampard, Frank J., on 46th min. for Barry 30 20 June 1978 CM Chelsea FC 67 13
20 Crouch, Peter J., on 46th min. for Heskey 28 30 January 1981 F Portsmouth FC 31 14
21 Cole, Carlton M.N., on 75th min. for Agbonlahor 25 12 November 1983 F West Ham United FC 1 0
result: Spain 2 England 0
unused substitutes: 13-Wayne Bridge, 15-Rio Ferdinand (ill), 16-Ashley Young, 19-James Milner, 22-Joe Hart;
Coach Fabio Capello played for Italy against England in June (scoring one) and November 1973 (scoring another), and in May and November 1976.
 
1st     4-4-2 James -
Johnson, Jagielka, Terry,
A.Cole -
Wright-Phillips, Carrick, Barry, Downing -
Heskey, Agbonlahor.
2nd  4-4-2 Green -
Johnson,
Upson, Terry, A.Cole -
Beckham, Carrick,
Lampard, Wright-Phillips -
Crouch, Agbonlahor (C.Cole).

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 27.5 Appearances/Goals 28.9 1.4

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

With Spain at the moment probably the best International side in Europe, this match was going to prove a stiff task for the new hope being showered on the England team.  In the end it proved a wake-up call to all those who think England can win the World Cup.  They still could, but in Spain they were vastly inferior to a class outfit.

In the early stages England looked disciplined and organised, but there were few signs of an attacking threat.  Fabio Capello decided to pair up Gabriel Agbonlahor with his Aston Villa teammate Emile Heskey, and Agbonlahor had a good early chance and almost beat Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal.  Shaun Wright-Phillips made a pacey dribble that almost unlocked the defence, but after that England's attacks petered out.  The home midfield began to turn on the style with crisp, clever passing and ball possession was the order of the day.  Xavi Hernandes ran the show in midfield, and he was supported by two other class performers, in Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso.  Barcelona's Xavi was outstanding throughout and his midfield play was a fine example of the complete modern day midfield player.  By half-time England were being overrun by the sheer brilliance of the Spanish midfield players.  Michael Carrick and Gareth Barry were chasing shadows for much of the latter part of the first half, especially after Spain took the lead.

The opening goal came on 36 minutes and it stemmed from a precision pass from Alonso into the heart of the England defence.  The ball found David Villa and although Phil Jagielka, in for Rio Ferdinand who was ill, managed to get a foot to the ball it then bounced kindly back into the path of the Spaniard and in a flash Villa was round Jagielka and John Terry before unleashing an unstoppable shot beyond David James.  It was a goal Spain deserved, as their approach play was a delight at times.

At half-time Capello had a re-think and made a number of changes.  He brought on David Beckham for his 108th cap, thus equalling Bobby Moore's outfield record appearance total, and then he also gave run outs to Robert Green, in goal, Matthew Upson, Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch.  None of the changes had any immediate impact as Xavi continued to dictate all the proceedings.  Some of the passing and movement of the Spanish players was exceptional and even a full strength England side would have struggled to cope.  To their credit England did keep plugging away but they were being outclassed, and their fans knew it.  The only thing missing for the home supporters was another goal or two.

In the end, on 82 minutes, Spain did manage a second goal and it was that man Xavi who laid it on.  His free-kick was headed home by Fernando Llorente and that put a more realistic look to the scoreline.  England's only real chances of the second-half were an effort by Lampard and another by debutant Carlton Cole, which was cleared off the line by Marchena.  It would have been a nice way for Cole to celebrate his first cap, but alas it wasn't to be.

Spain played superbly on the night and passed their way to victory.  This was their 29th game unbeaten and it will take a very good side to dent that record.  England, meanwhile, must go back to the drawing board and think again.  Luckily there is still plenty of time to improve.

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
SkySports.com
RFEF.com
Mike Payne - football historian and contributor
Marcel Hoefsmit - friend and contributor

____________________

CG