ENGLAND'S three matches in May continued with a visit to the magnificent Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, home of Real Madrid, taking with them one of the youngest sides they have ever fielded. But they had the daunting task of facing one of the best international sides in the world. The ground was well short of the capacity but still held over 87,000 people at the start. They were soon passionately voicing their opinions, generating a cauldron of noise and a terrific atmosphere.

The Spaniards immediately showed their marvellous skills, attacking from the first whistle. But one thing that England never lacked is a combative spirit and they made Spain fight for every ball. Ron Flowers carried out the tactical plan of man-marking the irrepressible Di Stéfano, leaving Peter Swan the task of covering the central area. Swan did well against the probings of Peiro and Martínez and Flowers, Bobby Robson and especially Jimmy Armfield gave sterling service to the England cause.

Spain had most of the first half-possession and chances were created at regular intervals. In the 38th minute they scored the goal their play deserved. Pereda found Gento with a long cross-field pass. The winger made ground before splitting the England defence wide open with a wonderful pass which gave Peiro the chance to score, a chance he gleefully took.

Johnny Haynes, revelling in his new role of captain, gave Jimmy Greaves the best England chance of the first half. A glorious through ball sent Greaves away but the Chelsea player just overran it allowing Ramellets the chance to block. That opportunity had come just before Spain's goal and if Greaves had taken it, then maybe a different story would have been told. As it was, Peiro's goal was enough to give the Spanish their half-time lead.

After the break, England continued to work hard and create some chances. With Haynes prompting well, they were still in there with a real chance of saving the game. Joe Baker almost forced an equaliser 15 minutes into the second half when he intercepted an attempted back-pass by Garay. Alas, he too, overran the ball and again Ramellets was able to save.

England then had another fine chance when a short corner was worked by Peter Brabrook and Armfield before the full-back put in a centre which Greaves headed over when it seemed easier for him to score. There were crucial misses by the visitors and they were to rue them, as with ten minutes to go, Spain scored decisive second goal.

A superb move involving De Stéfano, Peiro and Diaz ended with Diaz's cross finding Martínez. The number-eight controlled the ball well, moved to the left of goal and then drilled a shot past Ron Springett from a tight angle.

The crowd went wild with delight and Spain ended the match in full control as they turned on the style. They tormented the England defenders with some keep-ball passing movements and then rubbed salt into the wound by adding a third goal. Again Martínez was the scorer, showing clever skills and finishing with an arrogant strike inside the far post. Although the win was merited, that last goal did give a slightly flattering look to the scoreline.

Finally, a word of praise of Armfield. Faced with one of the world's fastest wingers in Gento, the full-back was rarely beaten for pace and had a tremendous game againstt the dangerous Spaniard.
   

Johnny Haynes took over from the dropped Ronnie Clayton as captain. The rain in Spain was mainly on the pitch and England got bogged down in a midfield that was a mass of mud. Alfredo di Stéfano played a reluctant part in the Spanish victory. He wanted to save himself for Real Madrid's European Cup Final date with Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park four days later. Alfredo had a long-running argument on the touchline with the Spanish coaches as he begged to come off, but was he persuaded to play on and help Martínez clinch victory with two goals in the last ten minutes. Di Stéfano and his colleagues Gento and del Sol then flew off to Glasgow, Lanarkshire to join the Real team that conjured one of the great performances of all time in their 7-3 victory over Eintracht. With Jimmy Armfield playing magnificently to control Gento, England gave as good as they got for the first hour, but one of the youngest teams ever picked by Walter Winterbottom and the selectors ran out of steam in the heavy conditions. Spain bossed the last third of the game, and tantalised and teased England with their keep-ball tactics before striking forward to snatch two goals in the last ten minutes.
 

In the first match of the overseas tour England sprang a big surprise by dropping Clayton who had captained the side throughout the season. In his place at right-half Robson was recalled to the team after a lapse of two years — he previously played at inside-forward. Brabrook replaced Douglas at outside-right. The final score flattered the Spaniards, for, though they were the better team, a splendid rearguard action by England forced them to fight hard for their victory. The 77,000 spectators saw the home team take the lead midway through the first half but, though they pressed constantly, they were unable to increase it until the last 10 minutes when their clever inside-forward Martínez scored two brilliant goals. Joe Baker missed a good opportunity to equalise when the score was 1-0; Brabrook, Charlton, and Greaves seldom troubled the Spanish defence. Haynes, who was made captain, worked hard but many of his astute through-passes failed to create goal-scoring openings.