Spain start new era with victory
England’s Kane rages at ref
Spain began a new era under Luis Enrique in impressive fashion as they came from a goal down to outplay England in a 2-1 win in their Nations League opener at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Eight weeks after their memorable World Cup run was ended by Croatia in the semifinals, the optimism sweeping England looked justified as Marcus Rashford scored a superb early opener.
But Spain, featuring only five of the players that started their last-16 World Cup penalty shootout defeat by Russia, stormed back before halftime through Saul Niguez and Rodrigo.
The second half was overshadowed by a nasty-looking head injury sustained by England left back Luke Shaw, who needed lengthy treatment after an accidental clash.
Spain threatened to stretch their lead but were forced to hang on in the closing stages as England finished strongly with Rashford going close and substitute Danny Welbeck having a goal disallowed deep into stoppage time.
England’s defeat was their first in 25 competitive fixtures at Wembley.
England and Spain also face World Cup runners-up Croatia in League A’s Group 4 of UEFA’s new tournament, which is designed to add spice to the international calendar.
England captain Harry Kane raged at Dutch referee Danny Makkelie for ruling out Welbeck’s late equalizer.
England were denied a point when Makkelie awarded a foul in favor of Spain goalkeeper David de Gea for minimal contact with Welbeck.
“In the big moments you need the referee to stay strong, but unfortunately he has bottled it,” said Kane.
“Big moments you need a firm referee who won’t, under the pressure, get decisions wrong, basically.”
However, England manager Gareth Southgate admitted his side weren’t good enough as Spain bounced back.
Despite the joy at reaching the last four in Russia, England have now lost three consecutive games for the first time in 30 years.
“We have to accept Spain were better than us for long periods of the game,” said Southgate. “Their retention of the ball was top-class. We were a bit disjointed in our pressing, but even when you press well against them, they have some wonderful players.
“We aren’t able to do that when teams press high against us yet.”