It’s a pity that soccer internationals of
this nature are known as ‘friendlies’ instead of ‘tests’, because this was a supreme
test for both sides. For Spain, hosting this match in Alicante instead of
Madrid because of concerns that unreconstructed franquistas might boo the Catalan patriot Gerard Piqué, this was
their chance to show the world that their failure at the 2014 World Cup was an
aberration and that tiki-taka, unlike
the Generalissimo, was not dead.
For England, whose ten wins gave them the
best record in qualifying for Euro ’16, this was an opportunity to show that
they could match it with another superpower in their first real test since
their group stage exit in Brazil. They lined up in a 4-4-1-1, with Everton’s
Ross Barkley nesting behind lone striker Harry Kane, while their hosts went
with a 4-1-3-2, featuring Sergio Busquets as the sole holding midfielder.
The story of the night, however, was
England’s inability to control possession: a familiar refrain in the sport’s
homeland. Most of the decent chances fell to Spain, who ended the first half
with sixty-three percent of the ball and who often looked like they were
playing futsal with themselves on the tablecloth-patterned turf.
England’s first penetration of the Spanish
defence came in the seventh minute, and Raheem Sterling fired the resulting
shot well over the bar. La furia roja
came close in the twenty-third minute, when Busquets got on the end of a corner
kick, and in the twenty-ninth, when Valencia’s Paco Alcácer was the recipient
of a high through-ball.
In between all of this, Thiago Alcântara
was taken off with an injury, replaced by Santi Cazorla, who proved an
effective addition to the Spanish midfield. Sterling put his body on the line
in the wall to stop a Cesc Fàbregas free kick in its tracks, but the Three
Lions’ defence was almost exposed in injury time, when they were forced to
clear the ball from their own penalty area three times in quick succession.
With six shots apiece in the first half,
victory looked likely to fall to whichever side could make its chances count.
Both coaches tinkered with their bench (six substitutions being allowed in
international friendlies by order of Blatter), but it was the entry of Manchester
United’s Raumdeuter Juan Mata, on for
the so-so Diego Costa just after the hour mark, which altered the game’s
complexion.
Suddenly, the Spanish lifted the tempo of
their attacking moves, playing through balls and one-twos while pressuring Kane
into a series of misses at the other end. In the seventy-second minute,
Alcácer, Fàbregas, and Mario Gaspar combined for the opening goal, the
last-mentioned executing a superb volley which bounced awkwardly past Joe Hart.
Within a minute, Roy Hodgson dragged the
unimpressive Barkley to allow the White Pelé himself, (He Goes By The Name Of)
Wayne Rooney, to join Kane in a classically English two-man strike partnership.
Vicente del Bosque also rang the changes, swapping Alcácer for Chelsea’s Pedro
and Busquets for Atlético Madrid’s Koke. But it was Cazorla who would shatter
England’s hopes, firing a loose ball through a confused defence from just
outside the box.
There were no further goals, but plenty of
further worries for the visitors. Michael Carrick, without doubt the most
Spanish Englishman in football, had to be stretchered off in the ninetieth
minute with damage to his ankle ligament. In the second minute of second-half
stoppage time, Rooney hit the cross-bar with a shot which summed up England’s
night.
Overall, this was a match which promised a
clash of stereotypes – Spanish tiki-taka
against English speed and power – and which largely delivered, but also demonstrated
that possession in and of itself is useless without penetration. Spain worked
the ball, wore England down, and made them pay in the final twenty minutes. The
Poms will need to lift their game if they are to break their half-century major
tournament drought in France.
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