Another star studded side played England in what looked to have been a lucrative match, yet it was just a disappointing the 'big' friendlies which have preceded it. World and European Champions Spain arrived at Wembley and, for most of it, didn't look like they were interested.
With nine of their World Cup winning starting line-up on the field and with England playing an unusual side, it seemed that Capello's men were there for the taking. But throughout the first half Spain gave away possession far too easily and too often, almost always failing to find that killer final ball. England, to their credit, defended well to keep Spain at bay but the first half just petered out.
The second half was more of the same barring a few more guilt edged chances. But the unthinkable happened as James Milner took a free-kick. Darren Bent's seemingly first touch of the game, he had started, was to head the ball onto the post, completely beating substitute keeper Pepe Reina. The ball looked to have spinning back into the goal but captain Frank Lampard made sure with his head just four minutes after the restart. From there, Spain looked to create more meaningful chances the best chance fell to Villa who smashed a clever volley onto the post. Spain were unusually modest when attacking, balls that were flashed across goal or rebounds just weren't followed up by a red shirt. England managed to hold onto the win but whether they'll gain anything other can confidence from this is hard to say.
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