Chile too spicy as Sanchez burns bland England

ENGLAND’S World Cup preparations began with a whimper with Alexis Sanchez scoring twice to give Chile a 2- 0 victory in a low- key friendly game at Wembley Stadium yesterday.

The in-form Barcelona forward struck in the seventh minute and again in injury time, taking his tally of goals to 10 in nine games for club and country and condemning England to defeat for the first time in 11 matches.

Fifteen years after a 2-0 win on their last visit to Wembley, Chile left with a spring in their step ahead of Tuesday’s friendly with Brazil in Toronto, having extended their own unbeaten run to 10 matches.

England manager Roy Hodgson will hope for a more impressive showing from his side against Germany next week, when he is expected to name his strongest starting line- up after shuffling his pack on Friday.

‘‘The experimenting does not totally explain the result,’’ Hodgson said. ‘‘ We played against a very good team and from a goal down, it was always going to be difficult.

‘‘ We came back into the game well, but Chile knew how to take the sting out of the game. There were a lot of stoppages and, to be frank, Chile were the better team.’’

Hodgson had handed debuts to Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster and Southampton pair Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez, while Manchester United’s Phil Jones started at centre-back.

The visitors’ very first attack yielded a goal, with Sanchez stealing in front of Leighton Baines to head home Eugenio Mena’s leftwing cross. The unfamiliarity in the England line-up, allied with Chile’s adventurousness, made for an open first half in front of 62,953 fans.

A wayward 30- yard shot from Glen Johnson was the hosts’ only effort of note after the break and it was Sanchez who had the final say, racing clear of the England defence and coolly chipping Forster.