International Friendly Reports & Analyses: England 1 - 0 Spain

Phil Ball: Wembley Sunset
If England woke up happy on Sunday, then fine. After 20 years over here, I'm past caring about English hubris. The strains of Match of the Day still move me, but if the absence of Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere means that England cannot, at the very least, have a go, then I don't see the point. Maybe Capello is preparing for a catenaccio approach to this summer's Euro tournament, and if so, then it has to be admitted that England's defence played well.


Richard Williams: Scott Parker's shield protects England against Spain's infiltrators
Yes, it was only a friendly. No, Spain are not unbeatable in such circumstances, as Argentina, Portugal and Italy have proved since the World Cup (and they are not bad company for England to be among). Certainly, Vicente del Bosque would have left Xavi Hernández and Iker Casillas on the pitch for the second half had there been something significant at stake, and the visitors' overall intensity might have been a few percentage points higher. But thanks to a display of pragmatism and wholehearted effort, England at least took the opportunity to raise their morale by a notch or two.