Published 2/7/2007 7:42:28 PM by Shane Barrow from Dallas, Texas

Today marked the 21st meeting between England and Spain. Both sides took the pitch with plenty to prove as England had lost 3 straight and Spain 3 of 4. The game was an important one as the two sides looked to gain steam heading into next month’s Euro 2008 qualifiers.

England started brightly earning a corner in the opening seconds and putting Spain under pressure early on. Michael Carrick controlled a throw in and hit a shot from distance that swerved on goal. Spain keeper Iker Casillas could only parry the shot and the rebound fell to Kieron Dyer who fired low only to be denied by Casillas. England continued to have the majority of possession early on as it took Spain 10 minutes to settle.

As Spain settled they began to establish some direction and possession. David Villa hit a shot off the side netting. The shot was of good pace, but it looked like England keeper Ben Foster had it covered.

In the 18th minute, a patient build up led to Fernando Morientes receiving a ball straight away 10 yards from goal. Instead of calmly slotting the ball home he went for power and somehow missed the frame.

Later in the 39th Steven Gerrard led a counter going 20 yards on the run in the midfield as Peter Crouch lurked towards the back post. Gerrard’s long ball found Crouch who put a low shot through the 6 and wide.

A fairly uneventful first half ended 0-0 as only 4 shots could be mustered between the two sides. The most interesting aspect of the half were the contrasting styles. Spain’s patient buildup, often stringing 6-7-8 passes together to get into the attacking third, or the English transition with probing balls and quick runs.

Spain attacked off the second half kickoff and it nearly paid off as Fernando Torres narrowly missed picking out David Villa on a cross to the backpost. However, it was England that would control the next minutes just as they did in the opening of the first half. Dyer found a running Shaun Wright-Phillips who had his shot deflected for a corner. Shortly afterwards, Gary Neville got down the right and played a near post ball into the 6 that was narrowly cleared from danger resulting in another corner.

Spain was able to get its composure though and the next minutes passed quietly. In the 56th England went on the attack again as Gary Neville shot high from 18, but David Villa would respond for Spain as he picked up a loose ball outside the box where he laced a strong shot on the England goal. Ben Foster was up to the task though as he dove to his right and parried the ball away.

The Spanish were to break through in the 63rd minute to produce the game’s only goal. A long speculative ball into the left corner found David Villa who whipped a good cross into the box for Torres who was unable to meet it. However, the ball continued to Iniesta who placed a beautiful shot into the top right corner of the net.

Just a minute later England earned a corner that resulted in a Kieron Dyer shot wide. The home side controlled much of the attack over the rest of the match but credit to Spain’s defense that didn’t allow any further quality chances to wrap up Spain’s first win on English soil in over 25 years.

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