World champions Spain came from behind to beat England 3-2 in an entertaining Nations League encounter at Wembley on Saturday, denying the hosts a cathartic win after their painful World Cup exit.
Victory for Luis de la Fuente’s men extends Spain’s astonishing unbeaten run to 39 matches — a record for a European team.
England got off to a nightmare start when Lamine Yamal pounced on a gaffe by defender Marc Guehi, and they could easily have been three goals down as silky Spain created multiple chances.
But England, criticised for their ultra-defensive tactics in their World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina, showed adventure of their own and got their reward in the 36th minute when Barcelona winger Anthony Gordon finished a fine team move.
Four minutes later Thomas Tuchel’s men were ahead after captain Harry Kane headed home Nico O’Reilly’s cross via a Marc Cucurella deflection.
Kane had a golden chance to give England a two-goal cushion from the penalty spot 10 minutes into the second half but slipped slightly, crashing his shot against the bar.
Spain, who beat England in the Euro 2024 final, took full advantage, with substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal both scoring to turn the match around.
De la Fuente said he felt his team had largely been in control against “superpower” England and he was confident they would have come back even from 3-1 down.
Asked about his side’s long unbeaten run, he said: “These are sensational moments…. Numbers are one thing, objective indicators are what we see. But what is important is that we still want to grow, we still want to improve.”
Kane bemoaned England’s inability to sustain their best level for the whole game.
“I spoke before that we reached good levels at the World Cup but didn’t quite put a full 90 minutes together,” he told ITV. “Probably similar again today.”
Shaky start
England boss Thomas Tuchel was adamant ahead of the match that it did not signal a new start but will have been dismayed at his team’s nervy start.
Manchester City’s Guehi, with a chance to clear in the second minute, inexplicably turned back towards goalkeeper James Trafford, apparently unaware that Yamal was just behind him.
The teenager pinched the ball and curled a left-footed effort off the inside of the post.
Ferran Torres was in the thick of the action, with an effort ruled out for offside and another shot saved by Trafford, in for long-time number one Jordan Pickford.
He also squandered a golden opportunity with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Yamal then set up Dani Olmo, who flashed wide as Spain rued yet another miss.
England, who had showed plenty of promise down the wings, made the visitors pay with an incisive counter-attacking goal after winning the ball back deep in their own half.
Gordon was involved early in the move and surged forward, collecting Jude Bellingham’s pass to steer the ball decisively past goalkeeper Unai Simon.
And, with the atmosphere now totally changed, England were in front when Kane rose to head home.
Tuchel’s men started the second half brightly and had a chance to extend their lead from the spot when they were awarded a penalty for a Rodri foul on Bellingham following a VAR check.
But Kane hit the bar and England paid the price when Baena steered home on the hour mark after O’Reilly had given the ball away to Olmo.
Worse was to come for the home side when Baena turned provider for Oyarzabal, who dinked the ball over Trafford.
Spain host Croatia in their next Nations League Group A3 match on Tuesday while England travel to the Czech Republic.
AFP
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