Mario Gaspar scored a remarkable spinning volley from the edge of the area to lead Spain to a 2-0 win over England in a friendly on Friday, handing England their first loss in nearly 18 months.
After a lofted pass by Cesc Fabregas in the 71st minute, Gaspar swiveled his body and struck a right-footed acrobatic volley into the top corner past England goalkeeper Joe Hart, who could only watch it fly over his outstretched arms.
It was the second goal in as many matches with Spain’s national team for the Villarreal right-back. He scored on his international debut in a European qualifier against Ukraine last month.
Photo: Reuters
Santi Cazorla sealed Spain’s victory with a low shot from outside the area in the 84th minute.
The result put an end to England’s 15-game unbeaten streak, which dated back to last year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil. They had won 12 games, including all 10 in Euro 2016 qualifying, and drawn three times, including in friendlies against Italy and Ireland this year.
The game in Alicante, Spain, featured two teams that are to be under the spotlight at next year’s European Championship — with Spain bidding for a third consecutive European title and England hoping to build on their impressive run in qualifying.
Both squads were depleted by injuries, though, and could not fully measure up to expectations. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was missing Sergio Ramos, Francisco “Isco” Alarcon, David Silva, Juanfran Torres and Dani Carvajal, among others, while England manager Roy Hodgson was without forwards Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck, and chose not to start Wayne Rooney.
To make things worse for Del Bosque, midfielder Thiago Alcantara had to be substituted for Cazorla because of a knee injury in the 25th minute, while Hodgson lost Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick in stoppage-time.
Spain controlled possession and had most of the significant scoring chances throughout the match at the Estadio Jose Rico Perez.
Striker Paco Alcacer nearly opened the scoring after entering the area in the 29th minute, missing just wide. Two minutes later, Diego Costa came close to finding the net with a curling shot that went past the top corner.
England relied mostly on counterattacks. One of their best chances was a long-range shot by Harry Kane in the 67th minute, and Wayne Rooney’s strike from inside the area in second-half stoppage-time struck the crossbar.
In other friendly games, it was:
‧ Belgium 3, Italy 1
‧ France 2, Germany 0
‧ Northern Ireland 1, Latvia 0
‧ Spain 2, England 0
‧ Netherlands 3, Wales 2
‧ Turkey 2, Qatar 1
‧ Luxembourg 1, Greece 0
‧ Czech Republic 4, Serbia 1
‧ Poland 4, Iceland 2
‧ Slovakia 3, Switzerland 2
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