It was great fun while it lasted. But probably summed up England. So near and yet so far.
They were undone by world champions Spain in a five-goal thriller at Wembley in what turned out to be a case of another missed opportunity. Thomas Tuchel’s nearly men were 2-1 up when Harry Kane smashed a penalty against the crossbar and with it the chance to put the game out of sight. If there was one player you would bank on to score, it would be Kane. Sadly, Spain came back and turned this brilliant rollercoaster game on its head again.
Spain ended up victorious because they have just a little bit more quality than England despite a battling, gritty and entertaining performance from Tuchel’s men.
It was not the victory which Tuchel wanted to kickstart England’s Nations League campaign but it was still enough to get the Wembley crowd back onside after the World Cup. You could not help but be entertained and yet it did again highlight the gap between the world and European champions and Tuchel’s brave battlers.
It was a nightmare start for England. Nico O’Reilly passed the ball to Manchester City teammate Marc Guehi who was guilty of a shocking mistake completely out of character.
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Guehi turned into trouble, clearly did not see Lamine Yamal behind him and just ran the ball straight into the Spain teenager’s path. Yamal raced free, fired the ball past England keeper James Trafford and it went in off the far post to give the world champions the lead inside two minutes.
It was also an unhappy introduction for Leeds keeper James Trafford as this was his big audition and a chance to show Thomas Tuchel what he can do. Tuchel is giving Trafford and Jordan Pickford two games each in these four Nations League games.
England’s sloppiness continued. Myles Lewis-Skelly’s pass across his own box – unforgivable at Sunday League level – set up Spain’s Marc Cucurella who could not take full advantage.
Ferran Torres went clean through as England’s defence was sliced wide open again. This time, Trafford came out and made a great block. The offside flag went up but Torres was clearly onside and it would have counted. Torres missed another one-on-one.
Tuchel was getting angry on the touchline – and it was easy to see why. In trying to play a bit more like Spain, they were guilty of playing their way into trouble. Spain could have been out of sight.
Then came the most remarkable turnaround. The game turned on its head in the space of four minutes. First, Spain winger Nico Williams lost possession, Elliot Anderson led the break, Anthony Gordon’s flick found Jude Bellingham.
It was Bellingham’s perfectly timed pass which released Gordon and the England winger buried a low shot past Spain keeper Unai Simon. That was more like it for England. Pace, speed and English cut and thrust.
England were ahead after 40 minutes. Gordon’s pass set up O’Reilly and his cross reached Harry Kane and the England captain’s header was deflected in off Cucurella.
From being given the runaround, England were ahead. This felt like they were back at the World Cup, the game slipping away against DR Congo or Norway and then suddenly they showed incredible spirit to haul themselves back into it.
England then wasted a glorious chance to put the game to bed. They were awarded a penalty after VAR ruled Rodri tripped Bellingham.
But inexplicably, Kane smashed the spot kick against the crossbar. Kane’s standing foot slipped in the run-up and that explained his miss. Kane looked crestfallen – and his despair quickly got worse.
Spain drew level on the hour mark. O’Reilly gave the ball away, Dani Olmo set up Spain substitute Alex Baena who steered his low shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
And how Spain made England pay. Baena’s lovely through ball played in Spain substitute Mikel Oyarzabal who dinked the ball past Trafford. The rollercoaster ride was complete.
Bellingham, as ever, was terrific and never stopped trying and even weren’t close in injury time. But it was a case of what might have been.
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