England striker Wayne Rooney will dominate the headlines for the wrong reasons after being taken off to avoid the risk of being sent off in the friendly international with Spain in Madrid.
England striker Wayne Rooney will dominate the headlines for the wrong reasons after being taken off to avoid the risk of being sent off in the friendly international with Spain in Madrid.
Rooney had already been booked when he was hauled off after 39 minutes by Sven-Goran Eriksson. In the process, Rooney threw the black armband being worn in memory of the late England captain Emlyn Hughes to the ground.
An ill-tempered affair saw Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips subjected to appalling racist abuse in the form of monkey chants as England were beaten by a
ninth-minute goal from Asier del Horno.
It had all started so promisingly, at least for Spain, whose crop of young talent is at least as exciting as England's.
While Jose Reyes again had to put up with some close physical attention from Gary Neville, both he and Joaquin, a target for Chelsea, tormented England down the flanks.
Barcelona's hugely impressive midfielder Xavi, meanwhile, ran the game, while Fernando Torres provided the attacking impetus along with Raul.
And with just nine minutes gone, Spain seized the lead as England's defence failed to cope with a corner which bounced to del Horno standing 12 yards out.
Robinson looked to have the looping header covered but was distracted by Raul's attempts to flick the ball goalwards and the Spurs keeper was rather too easily beaten.
England were far too predictable, being frustrated by the offside trap, while Raul and Torres both came close before Raul went down under Robinson's challenge as he burst through.
The England goalkeeper looked to have connected to the ball, but a penalty was awarded.
No matter. Robinson got his revenge when he dived superbly to his left to parry Raul's ensuing spot-kick.
Tensions were nevertheless rising and after Neville had twice fouled Reyes, with whom he clashed at Old Trafford recently, the Arsenal winger raked the back of the full-back's ankles.
Del Horno continued to pour forward, flashing a shot wide just past the far post, but sadly Rooney then contrived to steal all the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Having earlier escaped a booking for a foul on Joaquin, he was finally shown the yellow card for a stupid push on Casillas that sent the goalkeeper flying into the crowd.
In a competitive game, he would have been sent off for those two fouls alone but, after pushing his luck even further with a late tackle on Carlos Marchena, Eriksson acted decisively.
Even with just three minutes left before half-time, on came Alan Smith as Rooney stormed off, with his public humiliation complete.
The real lesson that Rooney might like to consider, however, is that England were thereafter left to attempt to haul themselves back into contention without their main creative influence.
The second half, with a procession of substitutes, was something of a non-event, even if Eriksson did see Cole switch left-sided roles with Bridge.
Robinson saved a shot from Xavi, while Miguel Angel Angulo blazed a shot over the bar.
