Spain vs England Open Thread

February 11th, 2009 | by: Daryl |

No LiveBlog I’m afraid, but here are the starting lineups:

England
1 David James, 2 Glen Johnson, 3 Ashley Cole, 4 Michael Carrick, 5 Phil Jagielka, 6 John Terry (c), 7 Shaun Wright-Phillips, 8 Gareth Barry, 9 Emile Heskey, 10 Stewart Downing, 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor
Subs 12 Rob Green, 13 Wayne Bridge, 14 Matthew Upson, 16 Ashley Young, 17 David Beckham, 18 Frank Lampard, 19 James Milner, 20 Peter Crouch, 21 Carlton Cole, 22 Joe Hart

Manager Fabio Capello

Spain
1 Iker Casillas (c), 2 Albiol, 3 Gerard Pique, 6 Iniesta, 7 David Villa, 8 Xavi, 9 Fernando Torres, 11 Capdevilla, 14 Xabi Alonso, 15 Sergio Ramos, 19 Marcos Senna
Subs
25 Pepe Reina, 4 Marchena, 5 Sergio, 10 Albert Riera, 16 Llorente, 17 Guiza, 18 Cazorla, 20 Juanito, 21 David Silva, 23 Fernando Arbeloa

Coach Vicente del Bosque

So Phil Jagielka gets a surprise start, while Lampard and Beckham begin the evening on the bench.

Bit disappointed to see Ashley Young miss out to Stewart Downing, but could be worse. The Barry/Carrick midfield works for me and the Heskey/Agbonlahor striker partnership looks god.

Please feel free to comment throughout the game, and let’s hope ITV don’t miss any goals…

England Football Team World Cup Blog RSS Feed

http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Villa scares me more than Torres really, because Jags can handle Torres – at least at club level. *fingers crossed*
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Jags just gave Torres a bit of a push. Great stuff.
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Glen Johnson is making me miss Gary Nevile already. That’s twice he’s hit Spanish players while trying to play up the line.
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Beckham could get on already with the way SWP is hobbling
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Oh David James…
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

At least that’s James’ inevitable howler out of the way.
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Damn it.
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Well, thats what happens when you misplace a pass against such a good side.

Great play from Villa once he got it though. At least it might liven the game up a touch too.
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Quite an uninspired first half really. Good to see Green on – and also Beckham and Lampard are quite positive subs I think.
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Terry seems to have injured SWP.
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Only one sub left I think. Hope it’s Ashley Young.
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Carlton Cole just scored a field goal. 3-1 to England?
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Brilliant pass from Beckham, Pity the defender was very quick to get back.
http://epl.theoffside.com Rob

Is Beckham swearing in Spanish at the French referee? How odd.
Brad

What a pathetic performance from England. Embarrassing to say the least, no positional play, no marking and amateurish third rate ball control from just about everyone. Three lion traveling circus. What a JOKE!