RASHIA IS A WORLD AWAY Spain bring Three Lions back down to earth after summer heroics
A hero in Russia but he will know he should have saved Saul’s goal KIERAN TRIPPIER Unable to make the impact in this game that he did at World Cup JOE GOMEZ Tough lesson as his falling asleep let Rodrigo ghost in and score JOHN STONES Booked Lost his radar with long passing. Caught napping for the second HARRY MAGUIRE Could have done better with his challenge for Spain’s first goal LUKE SHAW Booked Will he ever get a break? Sickening clash with Carvajal ended his night JESSE LINGARD Good movement but not enough in areas that could hurt visitors JORDAN HENDERSON Booked Surrounded by quality of Thiago and Saul. It showed MARCUS RASHFORD Fine finish from Shaw’s through ball. But what a miss from header DELE ALLI The wrong ball, far too heavy, with Shaw wide and Kane in front HARRY KANE So slow with one chance it looked like his boots were made of gold SUBS: Rose (Shaw 53) Booked; Dier (Henderson 64), Welbeck (Rashford 90) UNUSED: Butland, McCarthy, Bettinelli, Walker, Alexander-Arnold, Tarkowski Loftus-Cheek, Delph ENGLAND’S brave new world was given a reality check at Wembley.
The hype and excitement generated during a long, hot summer in which the country fell back in love with the national team was replaced by an ice-cold wake-up blast.
More than 81,000 turned up for England’s first Nations League tie.
But after Marcus Rashford’s early strike had given the fans hope that Gareth Southgate can build on England’s first appearance in a World Cup semi-final for 28 years, that optimism was punctured by goals from Saul Niguez and Rodrigo.
If it was a chastening evening for England, it was a painful one for Luke Shaw. The Manchester United left-back, recalled after an impressive start to the season, set up Rashford’s 11th-minute opener before making a mistake in the build-up to Niguez’s quickfire riposte.
And two minutes into the second half, Shaw was knocked out cold by a sickening collision with Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal.
It took six worrying minutes of treatment before England’s medical staff felt it safe enough to take him off on a stretcher.
New Spain boss Luis Enrique is supposed to be rebuilding after a ruinous summer in Russia and the retirement of Andreas Iniesta, Gerard Pique and David Silva.
But both Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets have won the World Cup and European Championship.
Others, like Isco, Nacho Carvajal, Thiago, Niguez and David De Gea, are serial winners at club level. Southgate’s most decorated players last night? Premier League winners Harry Maguire and John Stones. How it showed.
While the slick-passing Spaniards dominated possession, an England team that included debutant Joe Gomez and the returning Shaw had to decide carefully when to attack.
If they had made the most of what they did create they could have taken a share of the spoils. England took the lead with a goal that would have made even Pep Guardiola purr.
Stones, Gomez and Kieran Trippier worked their way out of a tight spot close to their corner flag.
And after Jordan Henderson had burst through Niguez’s tackle, Kane switched play with a raking pass that