England 2-2 Spain

Under-21 International Friendly
8pm, Tuesday 6 February 2007
Pride Park, Derby County FC

Two second-half strikes from David Nugent and Leroy Lita helped make sure Stuart Pearce’s first game as England Under-21 coach didn’t end in defeat as the Three Lions showed great spirit to claw themselves back to earn a 2-2 draw with Spain.

With Spain leading 2-0 at the interval, Pearce made some alterations and his second change, bringing on Reading striker Lita, bore fruit as the man who scored two against his Manchester City side at the weekend, popped up to save England and keep their long unbeaten run, six games now, intact.

It was a freezing night in Derby, and the game took a while to warm up. Even the five laps of the trusty Mexican Wave failed to keep the cold from the door.

But the weather was the last thing on David Bentley’s mind. He was keen to impress in his return to the squad after missing the last three games. Everything good that England were involved in, came from him.

His 9th minute through ball to David Nugent deep within his own half set the Preston man free but Antonio Adan Garrido was quick off his line to clear the danger.

Bentley’s right boot also delivered a series of free-kicks from either flank, which on two occasions found Curtis Davies arriving to apply a header. His second chance went well over the bar, but it’s the first one that he won’t forget in a hurry as he clashed with Adan Garrido and spent much of the half nursing a bleeding nose, forcing him to change his brand spanking new England shirt twice.

Meanwhile, alongside Bentley in the middle of the park, skipper Nigel Reo-Coker looked back to his tenacious best, smashing into challenges and bursting forward at every opportunity. Unfortunately his only sight of goal came from a Bentley corner, and his swashbuckling attempt to meet it with a close-range head was not quite high enough to connect.

But, despite a lack of chances, it wasn’t the forward play that was England’s undoing as two goals in the final ten minutes of the first half gave Pearce a problem to address in his debut half-time talk.

First, on 35 minutes, Scott Carson clearing with his left foot, failed to get enough distance and Davies’ toe poke at the second attempt was prodded back by Jose Jurado into the path of captain Roberto Soldado. The Osasuna forward tucked away neatly into Carson’s top right corner to give Spain an unexpected lead.

Then, with the last kick of the first 45 the visitors made it two. An England move broke down on the halfway line and, though Reo-Coker’s crunching challenge looked to win possession, Former Liverpool defender Antonio Barragan wriggled free, before evading Davies’ last-gasp tackle. He rolled to ball over to his team mate Jurado unmarked to his left, and his was a simple task to slot in.

Whatever Pearce said at the break seemed to work as England came out with added vigour - and Theo Walcott. The Arsenal man replaced Ashley Young who had looked isolated on the left hand side and endured a quiet first period.

Within five minutes Nugent had reduced the arrears, the in-form striker found another Bentley corner dropping nicely at his feet and he smashed home with his left from ten yards to take his Three Lions tally to three this season.

More changes came as Pearce handed Lita, another striker who’s been in the goals lately, his third cap. And with his bright yellow boots and bags of pace, the Reading man attacked the Spanish defence, weaving in and out before being halted just inside the box.

Spain almost extended their lead twice soon after, first substitute Xisco rattled Carson’s post with a fierce effort from the edge of the box, then the Charlton stopper was forced into a decent save as Raul Garcia’s header was sneaking under the bar.

But with eleven minutes left Lita popped up to underline why Pearce brought him into the squad - the 22 year old met Davies’ cross from the left with his head to leave the keeper stranded.

The Teams

England
1 Scott Carson (22 Joe Hart, 81), 2 Justin Hoyte, 3 Andrew Taylor (14 Liam Rosenior, 59), 4 Tom Huddlestone (15 Kieran Richardson, 51), 5 Steven Taylor, 6 Curtis Davies, 7 David Bentley, 8 James Milner (18 Leroy Lita, 59), 9 David Nugent, 10 Nigel Reo-Coker (c), 11 Ashley Young (16 Theo Walcott, 46)
Subs not used: 12 Gary Cahill, 13 Ben Alnwick, 17 Wayne Routledge

Goals: David Nugent 50, Leroy Lita 79

Spain
1 Antonio Adan Garrido, 2 Antonio J. Barragan Fernandez, 3 Miguel Torres Gomez (Ignacio Monreal Eraso, 59), 4 Sergio Sanchez Ortega, 5 Marc Torrejon Moya, 6 Raul Garcia Escudero (16 Esteban Granero Molina, 75), 7 Pedro Leon Sanchez Gil (17 Francisco Jimenez Tejada “Xisco”, 59), 8 Miguel Pallardo Gonzalez, 9 Roberto Soldado Rillo (c) (18 Juan Mata Garcia, 59), 10 Jose M. Jurado Marin, 11 Alejandro Alfaro Ligero (15 Mario Suarez Mata, 75)
Sub not used: 13 Roberto Jimenez Gago

Goals: Roberto Soldado Rillo 35, Jose M Jurado Marin 45

Attendance: 28,295

TheFA.com Man of the Match: David Bentley

Match Officials
Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)
Assistants: Francis Andrews and George Drummond (Scotland)
Fourth Official: Lee Mason (England)

Kit Colours
England: White shirts, Blue shorts, White socks
Spain: Red shirts, White shorts, Red socks