Spanish struggles give England perfect chance to prove they can be taken seriously
Roy Hodgson is right to say that his team can only beat what is in front of them - and now his side must deliver against defending champions
He is too diplomatic to show it, but Roy Hodgson may feel aggrieved at the indifference shown towards England’s perfect qualifying campaign for Euro 2016.
As the 68-year-old keeps saying, you can only beat what is in front of you – and 10 wins from 10, scoring the second-highest number of goals and conceding the second-fewest of the entire continent still takes some doing.
After all, only five teams have accomplished the feat before in securing their place at the European Championship - the most recent of which was Spain when they went on to win Euro 2012.
And with England travelling to take on the reigning champions in Alicante on Friday, Hodgson will view the friendly as an ideal chance to prove that his team have the measure of more than just the minnows.
Spain are, of course, targeting a third consecutive European crown, and look well placed to do so having won nine matches of their own on their way to booking their trip to France next summer.
Yet despite pitting two of Europe’s most accomplished sides - at least on paper - against one another, the game is unlikely to provide the entertainment that was sorely missing from both teams’ qualifying campaigns.
Three of the last four meetings between the sides have finished 1-0, with odds of 7/4 on there being under 1.5 goals once again on Friday.
The most recent of those matches came exactly four years ago, when a Frank Lampard winner in the second-half gave England a surprise win.
Interestingly, the only four players involved on that day who are set to feature on Friday were Joe Hart, Phil Jones, Gary Cahill and Kyle Walker – all of whom contributed to keeping the then-world champions at bay.
England will certainly look to adopt a similar tactic on Friday in terms of soaking up pressure and striking later on, with Spain losing their last three matches in which they were drawing at half-time.
England, on the other hand, have won five of their last six in the same situation, drawing the other – and are 10/1 to find the winner in the second half after being level at the break.
Defence has been the strongest suit for both sides more recently, with England keeping clean sheets in their last four matches and Spain doing the same in their last five – with a goalless draw priced at 15/2.
Goals, meanwhile, are likely to be harder to come by.
With Hodgson revealing that Wayne Rooney will be rested and Premier League top scorer Jamie Vardy missing through injury, Harry Kane is England’s only central striker.
The Spurs forward, who has six goals in his last four games for his club and three in his last six for his country, is 7/1 to score first and 8/1 to score at any time in an England win.
Spain, meanwhile, are likely to start with Diego Costa up front, who has scored just three times in 17 appearances so far this season.
The controversial frontman is 6/4 to add to his sole international goal for his adopted country at any time and 4/1 to score the first of the game.
Spain may have negotiated their competitive games in convincing style, but they have lost three of their last four friendlies without scoring a goal.
Those defeats came against France, Germany and Holland – who, coincidentally, are England’s next three opponents.
Such a challenging set of fixtures will provide England with plenty of opportunity to prove themselves as serious contenders next summer.
And what better place to start than with the scalp of the defending champions?
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