Spain

2-4

England

Butragueño 14

 

Lineker 24, 28, 47, 56

Ramon 76

Spain v England
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
18 February 1987

England won 4-2 on their last visit to Madrid and Peter Beardsley says the result and performance properly established his partnership with four-goal Gary Lineker.

"We had played in the 1986 World Cup but were really thrown together midway through the tournament," recalls Beardsley.

"When we went to the Bernabeu, I still didn’t consider myself a regular. But on the night the team played really well and Gary scored all four goals.

"People started saying how important I was even though I only set up one of his goals! From then on, we were the front two for England all the way to the 1990 World Cup."

In 1987, Beardsley was still at Newcastle United and hadn’t experienced European club football so to play at the legendary home of Real Madrid was particularly special.

"It was just fantastic for me. Gary played for Barcelona at the time and he was thrilled to score four goals in Madrid!

"Our manager Bobby Robson stressed we should put on a performance.

"This was a friendly game and his philosophy was to play good football and putting on a show for people. His belief was that if you did that, the result would come.

"It was a very wet night as I can recall and that helped the ball skid through. We started brightly and it was a shock that Emile Butragueño scored first for Spain. I remember Bryan Robson telling everyone not to worry, if we carried on in the same vein we would score goals.

"When I look back on England, two performances stand out. That game and the World Cup semi-final against Germany which we lost on penalties."

Beardsley, currently a coach at the Newcastle Academy, is still as modest as he was in his playing days.

"I was a decent player but I only scored nine goals in 59 games. Gary Lineker kept me in the side really," he says.

His importance to the side wasn’t just scoring goals though. He was the creative link player between midfield and attack that latterly Teddy Sheringham and Wayne Rooney have done so well.

"Bobby Robson used to say I should drop back to be like a fifth midfielder when we didn’t have the ball, and to join Gary Lineker when we were attacking.

"I was probably best remembered for my enthusiasm. I used to enjoy trying to win the ball back whereas it’s natural for most players to run harder when you are attacking than defending."

Even after all these years, Beardsley is almost in awe of Lineker’s finishing ability. The four goals he scored in Spain were part of an overall international tally of 48, second only to Bobby Charlton.

"At that time, he was among the best finishers in the world," says Beardsley. "It wasn’t right to say he hit the target nine times out of 10 - it was more like 99 times out of 100. He wouldn’t score every time but he would get it on target, incredible.

"He could place his finishes, blast them, whatever was required at the time.

"Another performance I remember from that Spain game was Tony Adams. He was a young lad at the time against some really good Spanish players but he was outstanding."

Team Details

Starting XI: Shilton (Southampton); Anderson (Arsenal), Sansom (Arsenal), Hoddle (Tottenham), Adams (Arsenal), Butcher (Rangers); Robson (Man Utd, c), Hodge (Tottenham), Waddle (Tottenham), Beardsley (Newcastle), Lineker (Barcelona)
Subs used: Woods (Rangers) came on for Shilton; Steven (Everton) for Waddle