Gaspar nets unreal golazo for Spain vs. England

Mario Gaspar scored a magnificent acrobatic volley as Spain completed a deserved 2-0 victory over England in a friendly in Alicante. We always knew how good they are at keeping the ball.

With three other tough friendlies coming up for England between now and March – with France up next on Tuesday at Wembley – Hodgson says he will review the Spain game as they continue to build for next summer’s Euros.

Villarreal right-back Gaspar scored a sensational volley to open the scoring when he swivelled in mid-air to turn home Cesc Fabregas’s pass.

England had two good chances in injury time, but a shot by Wayne Rooney grazed the crossbar and a tremendous save by Casillas denied Harry Kane. “We’ve also got players such as Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott out injured so it’s a huge array of talent and great for the country”.

“We just have to learn our lesson from it and remember that when you are playing against teams of this quality you can’t afford to make any technical mistakes in the wrong areas because you are going to get punished”.

After winning all 10 of their qualifiers, England were being tipped as dark horses for the tournament, but they were given a reality check by holders Spain in Alicante last Friday.

Spain looked a class above an experimental line-up and at times England looked in awe, sitting back as the passing “carousel” constructed by players of the pedigree of Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets weaved its way around them. The ball was circulated quickly and efficiently and England’s finest were chasing shadows for much of it.

“By giving the ball away we gave them the opportunity to counter-attack against us and score a spectacular goal”.

But both sides suffered injury concerns, with Spain losing Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara to a knee problem in the first half with United’s Carrick leaving on a stretcher late on. “I didn’t behave well and I admit it. I talked to him afterwards and told him I would to do whatever it takes, and so it proved”.

“The opposing team has less possession of the ball because they are so good technically and pass the ball so well”.

“I hope of course in the months ahead with a stronger squad to choose from we’ll become better”.

“It was a hard test for us”. Raheem Sterling – England’s best player – and Ryan Bertrand linked well but Sterling conceded possession cheaply on a number of occasions.

“We had a few chances and we were in the game but we lost and we have to dust ourselves off and perform better against France”.