Int Football - Super Spain down plucky England

Eurosport - Thu, 12 Feb 11:08:00 2009

A superior Spain side beat England 2-0 in Seville as David Beckham claimed his 108th cap, equalling the outfield record held by Bobby Moore.

FOOTBALL 2009 - England's David Beckham shakes hands with manager Fabio Capello after their friendly against Spain at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville - 0

David Villa opened the scoring on 36 minutes, Xabi Alonso playing the decisive pass after Everton defender Phil Jagielka - making his full debut for the virus-stricken Rio Ferdinand - gave the ball away to the Liverpool ace.

And substitute Fernando Llorente, on for Fernando Torres, headed home a second eight minutes from time following a superb free-kick by midfield dynamo Xavi.

West Ham striker Carlton Cole made his international bow late on and came closest to grabbing a consolation, rounding Liverpool keeper Jose Reina from Beckham's through-ball only to see his goal-bound shot cleared off the line by Carlos Marchena.

The passing and movement which was the hallmark of the home side's Euro 2008 success was again very much in evidence, Barcelona duo Xavi and Andres Iniesta linking with Alonso and Villarreal's deep-lying Marcos Senna, while Valencia goal-getter Villa also dropped off to pick up possession.

Reds boss Rafael Benitez cannot have been too happy to see his star man Torres start the match so soon after an injury, but he came through okay and impressed while not threatening to score.

There was a cracking atmosphere inside Sevilla's sold-out Ramon Sanzhez Pizjuan as the hosts came forward, playing one-touch football and seeking to unlock a compact England unit.

However it was the visitors who had the first chance, Gareth Barry - partnering Michael Carrick in the centre of midfield as he had in the friendly win over Germany in Berlin, with Frank Lampard on the bench - spinning away to cross for Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The Aston Villa striker, chosen in attack with club-mate Emile Heskey, stabbed his volley wide of the near post.

Spain had the ball in the net when the quick-thinking Iniesta played through Villa, but the pocket-sized front-man was a yard offside. Soon afterwards Torres saw a shot deflected into the air before a fortunate David James fluffed his simple catch but got away with it.

Jagielka then gave the ball away and Alonso moved it quickly to a position where he could find the incisive run of Villa, who turned the desperately retreating defender before finding the bottom corner.

England lost their momentum from that point and there were a host of changes at the break, including Beckham, while Reina and Alvaro Arbeloa of Liverpool appeared for Spain.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, who along with Agbonlahor looked good on the break without truly threatening in the first half, had to turn in some sterling defensive work after moving to the left to accommodate Beckham with full-back Sergio Ramos constantly attacking the by-line.

The Manchester City wide-man began a spell of promise for England when Beckham found him down the left channel; he cut inside Ramos and fired a curling shot too close to Reina.

Shortly after Lampard, on for Barry, headed straight at the keeper from an Agbonlahor cross, and until Hammers star Cole's late effort that was as good as it got for England.

Spain made sure of the win in front of their celebrating supporters - the locals were witnessing their 'rootless' national side in the city for the first time in eight years - when Athletic Bilbao striker Llorente rose to thump a header past the reaching fingers of Robert Green, who had appeared at half-time for James.

Beckham, who left his foot in on Gerard Piquet and received a dose of retribution soon after from Arbeloa, was booked for dissent in injury-time.

The defeat ends England manager Fabio Capello's 11-month unbeaten run, while Spain boss Vicente del Bosque continues the good work done by Luis Aragones last summer.

Both sides top their respective World Cup qualifying groups with four wins from four.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

Comment 169 - 188 of 188

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  1. what were the match flashes of Nigerian Super Eagle vs­ Jamaica, was there anything spectacular about the­ friendly and how relevant is international friendly­ considering the results of the current­ friendlies.
    AYORAJ

    From COSY, on Fri 13 Feb 6:49AM

  2. lol ppl ..... game is football ... 3 possible results­ .. 2 teams .. someone has to loose .. this time was­ england....

    From Gezuz.K, on Thu 12 Feb 9:48PM

  3. anonamous - Scared or something? Becks may have only­ played 54 full games, but you seem to forget that A: He­ was snubbed by Steve McLaren when he took over England­ (Not long after Becks had left United) so could have­ played a lot more games and B: Bobby Moore played in 40­ home internationals which are none events.
    So there is­ no comparison between the two players. Both played in­ different eras. At the end of the day it's not­ about the number of caps is about what each player did­ for their country. Both have done great things during­ there time. Get over this Beckham bashing/hating It is­ becoming boring. Your just making yourselves look like­ jealous wannabes.

    From redimaster, on Thu 12 Feb 6:34PM

  4. lool not suprised by the defeat...england always play­ their football with their mouth anb the media as the­ referee!!!...no cup in so many years but plenty­ talk...english team needs real practise, better quality­ of players...no doubt...becks,gerrard,rio,terry,lampard­ are there..but james? hesky? bent?carleton cole?....on­ the world stage? pls...

    From lanre a, on Thu 12 Feb 5:38PM

  5. Hope you like the --- MeetBoomer(dot)com --- a really­ good place is for baby boomers for fun, and make- alot­ of friends here ! Take care, and have a Great-­ Valentines Day!

    From hottestgal, on Thu 12 Feb 5:11PM

  6. I like Spain and Portugal and both teams won

    From , on Thu 12 Feb 4:17PM

  7. Can I mention to everyone who is patriotic to­ England,let me say this the euro 96 finals was a much­ better game and yet we beat their best team then.we all­ can remember stewart Pearce face don't we! We­ totalally hammered Spanish just like what we did to the­ DUTCH !!! COME ON ENGLAND!!

    From Jonathan, on Thu 12 Feb 1:06PM

  8. When i read some of the stuff people write here, i just­ wonder were reasoning have gone. David Beckham may not­ dribble like lionel messi or tackle like gennaro­ gattuso, but his passing skills are sublime.
    to play­ for manchester united at so early an age and leave a­ mark many years later, to go to maldrid and be­ cherished even when u are leaving, to play on lona with­ AC milan and be much sought after . . .never mistake­ skill for luck!
    David my have had stardom with the­ media and all, but that never discounts his ability­ with the ball/. its either he is good a footballer in­ his own right, or half the world is stupid enough to­ have been deceived by one man all these years! Go on­ becks, keep doing your thing and . . .

    From herald, on Thu 12 Feb 1:00PM

  9. COMMENT 211 IT'S NOT ABOUT BECKHAMS ABILITY TO PLAY­ FOOTBALL AND THAT'S IN DOUBT IT'S HIS MARKETING­ PHENOMENON THAT CLUBS AND BUSINESSES WORLDWIDE ARE­ CHASING FOR HIS NAME. THE BECKHAM BRAND IS WORTH MORE­ THAN HIS FOOTBSLL AND YOU KNOW THAT AS WELL AS THE­ WORLD AND HIS MOTHER IN LAW. IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT­ BECKHAM WOULD HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM THE FOOTBALL GAME.

    From esther.melvyn, on Thu 12 Feb 12:14PM

  10. Now that England was beaten by Spain,­ "Friendlies" are not important. If England­ would have won then it would have been very important. ­ England will never go anywhere with this kind of­ excuses. We need to get the facts right and build on­ our weaknesses. In all honesty not even the best­ English team would have done anything about last nights­ result. This was the third straight time that­ Spain's beaten England. What's the excuse for­ the other two losses?

    From Greg, on Thu 12 Feb 11:36AM

  11. Now that England was beaten by Spain,­ "Friendlies" are not important. If England­ would have won then it would have been very important. ­ England will never go anywhere with this kind of­ excuses. We need to get the facts right and build on­ our weaknesses. In all honesty not even the best­ English team would have done anything about last nights­ result.

    From Greg, on Thu 12 Feb 11:33AM

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    From , on Thu 12 Feb 11:12AM

  13. what a load of rubbish!

    From nikki, on Thu 12 Feb 11:11AM

  14. Are we still in doubt that england is blessed with­ overhyped and and media-inflated piper tigers?

    From collinsc, on Thu 12 Feb 11:09AM

  15. For those who crave adventure and steamy experiences,­ check _____Wealt hyFinder Co m ___

    From leecherry62, on Thu 12 Feb 11:05AM

  16. i didn't agree with alot of things for a start­ jaglka he shouldn't of played one to many Aston­ villa players on the feild, i disagree with the fact of­ picking players that are doing well for their club coz­ the big stage is totaly diffrent pick players with­ internation experence, Johnson was @#$% why not pick­ gay neville, and carrick & barry dont attack they­ both holding midfeiders, very dissapointed with the­ starting line up, its was a wake up call thats for­ sure.

    From Tom M, on Thu 12 Feb 11:05AM

  17. There are some absolute morons on this forum. Spain are­ by far the best team in the world and they showed why­ last night. It was a very useful lesson to see how far­ we have to go to compete with the best. I thought we­ started pretty well and Spain hadn’t looked like­ scoring before Jagielka’s mistake. Remember this was an­ England team missing, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Joe­ Cole and Wayne Rooney – arguably our 5 best players.­ Have some faith people, we just went a year without­ losing a game and stand top of our world cup­ qualifiying group with a perfect record. Capello is­ doing a great job and I wish everyone would support­ England instead of bashing them at the 1st possible­ opportunity!

    From Martin, on Thu 12 Feb 11:02AM

  18. To say the game was boring for English fans. One day­ the people responsible for the premier league will see­ that we do not have enough good English players to­ choose a good team. I am behind England but how many­ years since we fielded a team that really looked­ unbeatable lat time was 1966. Of course I am still an­ always will be against foregn managers, I am English­ and I could never support another countries team its­ not possible.

    From mik5258, on Thu 12 Feb 10:58AM

  19. Message for 192. Well now that he has got 108 caps­ would it not be better if Mr Beckham went back to the­ U.S.A. His record is played 54 FULL GAMES and 54 part­ games. Never mind he has one record all on his own, The­ only English player to be sent off twice well done­ Becks. will we qualify for the next world­ cup???????????. Disappointed

    From anonamous, on Thu 12 Feb 10:51AM

  20. I think it was a good thing England lost. Ever since­ 1966 they have beleived that they were the best­ footballing nation in the world. In that year they­ were, now it's a idfferent story. The Premier­ League is too cluttered with foriegn players, giving­ the younger English players a chance to advance.­ Walcott and a few others will hopefully break through.­ But, England's future does look bright. Dan Gosling­ and Jack Rodwell from Everton look good, so perhaps­ Capello could try something out. I also think that the­ Spanish will win The World Cup in 2010. They are the­ best footballing nation NOW. That's my 5p.

    From Dawg, on Thu 12 Feb 10:50AM
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