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Wednesday, 28 February 2001
A Nationwide International Friendly Match

England 3 Spain 0 [1-0]
 

Villa Park, Trinity Road, Aston, Birmingham, West Midlands
Attendance: 41,129;
Kick-off: 8.00 GMT
Live on Sky Sports One (UK) -
Commentator: Peter Brackley

England - Nicky Barmby (37), Emile Heskey (54), Ugo Ehiogu (69)
Spain - Javi Moreno (penalty saved 78)
Match Summary
England Squad
Spain Squad
Team Records
no yellow or red cards
Results 2000-2005

Spain kicked-off. 93 minutes (45 & 48).

 

Match Summary

Officials from Greece

England      

    

Type

Spain

Referee (yellow) - Kyros Vassaras
35 (1 February 1966), Thessaloniki, FIFA-listed 1998.

Assistant Referees and Fourth Official - tbc

The England team wore black armbands and observed a minute's silence in memory of former England player Stan Cullis, as well as the ten people who died in the Selby rail crash earlier today.

Spain agree to the use of seven substitutes, a compromise after Eriksson wanted to use eleven.
10 Goal Attempts 12
8 Attempts on Target 5
0 Hit Bar/Post 0
7 Corner Kicks Won 3
2 Offside Calls Against 2
16 Fouls Conceded 9
47% Possession 53%

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (14 February 2001) 17th
EFO ranking

ELO rating 13th to 12th
Colours: The 2001 Umbro home uniform - White shadow striped v-neck jersey with navy collar/cuffs/piping and single red vertical stripe down left side, navy shorts with red vertical stripe down right side, white socks with navy/white tops.
Capt: David Beckham, second captaincy.
Sol Campbell, second half
Head Coach: Sven-Göran Eriksson, 53 (5 February 1948), appointed 30 October 2000, took post 12 January 2001.
first match, W 1 - D 0 - L 0 - F 3 - A 0.
England Lineup
1 James, David B., off 46th min. 30 1 August 1970 G

Aston Villa FC

3 1 GA
2 Neville, Philip J., off 78th min. 24 21 January 1977 RB Manchester United FC 31 0
3 Powell, Christopher G.R., off 46th min. 31 8 September 1969 LB Charlton Athletic FC 1 0
4 Butt, Nicholas, off 46th min. 26 21 January 1975 M Manchester United FC 10 0
5 Ferdinand, Rio G., off 46th min. 22 7 November 1978 CD Leeds United AFC 11 0
6 Campbell, Sulzeer J. 26 18 September 1974 CD Arsenal FC 38 0
7 Beckham, David R.J., off 46th min. 25  2 May 1975 M

Manchester United FC

38 1
8 Scholes, Paul, off 46th min. 26 16 November 1974 M Manchester United FC 31 10
9 Cole, Andrew A. 29 15 October 1971 F

Manchester United FC

11 0
10 Owen, Michael J. 21 14 December 1979 F Liverpool FC 25 8
11 Barmby, Nicholas J. 27 11 February 1974 M Liverpool FC 19 4
England Substitutes
13 Martyn, A. Nigel, on 46th min. for James 34 11 August 1966 G Leeds United AFC 15 10 GA
15 Ehiogu, Ugochuku, on 46th min. for Ferdinand 28 3 November 1972 D Middlesbrough FC 2 1
19 Heskey, Emile W.I., on 46th min. for Beckham 22 11 January 1978 F Liverpool FC 12 2
20 Lampard, Frank J., on 46th min. for Butt 22 20 June 1978 M West Ham United FC 2 0
23 Ball, Michael J., on 46th min. for Powell 21 2 October 1979 D Everton FC 1 0
24 McCann, Gavin P., on 46th min. for Scholes 23 10 January 1978 M Sunderland AFC 1 0
12 Neville, Gary A., on 78th min. for P.Neville 26 18 February 1975 D Manchester United FC 42 0
unused substitutes: 14-Wes Brown, 16-Kevin Phillips, 17-Teddy Sheringham, 18-Robbie Fowler, 21-Jamie Carragher, 22-Richard Wright, 25-Ashley Cole, 26-Joe Cole.
records: Two goals from two substitutes for the first time since against Luxembourg, 15 December 1982.
Ehiogu is the ninth capped player to score his first goal as a substitute.
Heskey is the fifth substitute to score in two separate matches.
 
4-4-2 -

Averages:

Age 26.1 Appearances/Goals - -

 

Spain Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (14 February 2001) 7th
EFO ranking

ELO rating 7th
Colours: Made by Adidas - Red collared jerseys with dark blue/red sleeves, blue collar/cuffs with yellow trim, yellow Adidas sleeve trim, white shorts with red hem/Adidas side trim, blue socks with red/yellow tops.
Capt: Aberlardo.
Luis Enrique, from ht.
Sergi 65 mins.
Manager: José Antonio Camacho Alfaro, 55 (8 June 1955), appointed 15 September 1998,
23rd match, W 15 - D 4 - L 4 - F 62 - A 19.
Spain Lineup
1 Casillas Fernandez, Iker, off 64th min. 19 20 May 1981 G

Real Madrid CF

7 8ᵍᵃ
2 Garcia Diaz, Manuel Pablo 25 25 January 1976 D RC Deportivo La Coru�a 6 0
3 Fernandez Romero, Enrique 29 23 June 1971 D RC Deportivo La Coru�a 2 0
4 Guardiola Sala, Josép 30 18 January 1971 M

FC Barcelona

41 5
5 Aberlardo, off 46th min. 30 19 April 1970 D

FC Barcelona

54 3
6 Mendieta Zabala, Gaizka 26 27 March 1974 M Valencia CF 23 4
7 Gonzalez Blanco, Raul, off 81st min. 23 27 June 1977 F

Real Madrid CF

41 18
8 Martinez Garcia, Luis Enrique, off 65th min. 30 8 May 1970 M

FC Barcelona

53 12
9 Urzaiz Aranda, Ismael, off 46th min. 29 7 October 1971 F Athletic Club 25 8
10 Helguera Bujia, Ivan 25 28 March 1975 M

Real Madrid CF

16 0
11 Vergara Diez-Caballero, Unai 24 20 January 1977 D

Villarreal CF

1 0
Spain Substitutes
16 Moreno Valera, Javier, on 46th min. for Urzaiz Aranda 26 10 September 1974 F Deportivo Alaves 1 0
Javi Moreno 78th minute penalty saved by Nigel Martyn. Awarded after Moreno was brought down by Ugo Ehiogu as he was sprinting into the box.
18 Paco, on 46th min. for Abelardo 30 18 April 1970 D RC Deportivo La Coru�a 20 0
13 Canizares Ruiz, J. Santiago, on 64th min.  for Casillas 31 18 December 1969 G

Valencia CF

27 0
12 Barjuan Esclusa, Sergi, on 65th min. for Luis Enrique 29 28 December 1971 D

FC Barcelona

52 1
14 Sanchez del Amo, Victor, on 65th min. for Mendieta 25 23 February 1976 M RC Deportivo La Coru�a 3 0
15 Etxeberria Lizardi, Joséba A., on 81st min. for Raul 23 5 September 1977 F

Athletic Club

33 8
17 Baraja Vegas, Ruben, on 81st min. for Guardiola 25 11 July 1975 M Valencia CF 4 1
unused substitutes: all substitutes used
team notes: Coach José Camacho played for Spain against England three times, in March 1981, July 1982 and finally in February 1987, when he was captain.
 
- -

Averages:

Age - Appearances/Goals - -

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

 

Source Notes

Sven Göran Eriksson's England reign got off to the perfect start with an impressive victory over Spain at Villa Park.  Liverpool's Nick Barmby - who scored the first goal of Glenn Hoddle's term as England boss - performed the feat again for the Swede to put the skids under José Antonio Camacho's side.  And his Anfield team-mate Emile Heskey, one of six half-time substitutions by Eriksson, scored the second just after the break to establish the platform for a morale-boosting victory.  Middlesbrough's Ugo Ehiogu also emerged from the substitutes' bench to hit the target with a header on his return to Villa Park.  And on a night when almost everything went England's way, substitute goalkeeper Nigel Martyn saved a second-half penalty from Spain debutant Javi Moreno.  Eriksson will have been delighted as England mixed a patient start with increased ambition to see off the challenge of the highly-rated Spaniards.

He took the opportunity to switch systems as well as personnel, using a 4-4-2 formation in the first half before utilising the power of Heskey in an unfamiliar right flank role after the break as England pressed home their supremacy.

Eriksson will have taken many plus points from his first 90 minutes as England coach.  Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand formed an impressive central defensive partnership for 45 minutes while the home side also showed a range of options in attack.  Eriksson was also able to see many of his new charges in action - but most of all he will have been lifted by the simple but vitally important act of winning his first game.  Spain have a reputation for cruising through friendlies, but nothing should detract from an impressive and heartening England show after recent disappointments.  Barmby had an opportunity to give Eriksson's reign a dream opening with a chance inside the first minute, but he shot wide.  Spain took advantage of a tentative England start to dominate territory and possession, but goalkeeper David James was only threatened by a long range drive from Ivan Helguera.  England gained in confidence as the half progressed, injecting tempo and cohesion into their game after adopting holding tactics for the opening half hour.  And after Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas plunged at the feet of Paul Scholes, Barmby scored the opening goal of the Eriksson era.  Liverpool's midfield man was on the end of link between Andy Cole and Michael Owen to bravely beat Casillas to the ball and score with a close range lob.

England's spirits lifted visibly and Cole forced Casillas to dive to his left after he ended a weaving run across the penalty area with a powerful finish. And as England ended the half on a high, the hard working Owen tested Casillas again after he was set up by strike partner Cole.  Charlton's Chris Powell was a surprise selection for his debut but gave an impressive performance before sustaining a calf injury.  Eriksson, as expected, made six substitutions during the interval as he experimented with his first squad.  He removed James, Scholes, Powell, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Rio Ferdinand.  It gave first England caps to Everton's Michael Ball and Sunderland midfield man Gavin McCann, as well as appearances for Martyn, Ehiogu, Heskey and Frank Lampard.  And Lampard almost marked his arrival with a goal inside 30 seconds of the restart, firing narrowly wide from 20 yards after good work by Owen.   England were in buoyant mood, despite the mass change in personnel, and extended their lead after 54 minutes.  Ehiogu caused confusion from Lampard's corner, and Heskey scored from close range with goalkeeper Casillas stranded.

England were always threatening from set pieces, and Ehiogu put the contest out of the reach of fading Spain as he powered another Lampard corner past substitute goalkeeper Santiago Canizares. Spain were given an opportunity to snatch at some respectability when a penalty was harshly awarded against Ehiogu as he challenged Moreno ater 78 minutes.  But Martyn will have increased Eriksson's delight as he dived to his left to save Moreno's spot-kick.  It all added up to the ideal start for Eriksson - but the shrewd Swede will now tougher tests lie ahead as he attempts to breathe fresh life into England's ailing 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign.

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