Thomas Tuchel talked about a Nations League loss for England against Spain at Wembley Stadium that could have been so different as the team try to move on from the summer’s pain.
Errors undo England’s good work
The World Cup semi-finalists have often failed to make the grade in high leverage moments in the last decade at the latter end of tournaments, but here was a chance to impress against a top team without that same kind of pressure. Unfortunately, errors undid their good work on the evening.
‘Spells of the game were very good’
Marc Guehi was caught dawdling by Lamine Yamal, who scored the first goal of the game in the 2nd minute.
Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane hit back, then Kane crashed an early second half penalty onto the crossbar as he slipped following a foul from Rodri on Jude Bellingham in the box.
Nico O’Reilly was the next guilty party as Álex Baena made good on the turnover from the fullback, then a well-worked move was finished by Mikel Oyarzabal, who inflicted pain on England again.
"Terrible start, the worst start possible. It makes it so, so difficult to be behind against this type of team. After 10-12 minutes, I think we were the better team. We dominated in the opponent's half.
"We created and scored two goals, our best 15 minutes after the whistle. We couldn't convert the penalty - then maybe Spain would have believed that their long run of unbeaten games ends here.
"Another big, big mistake for 2-2. The third goal, was the only goal they really scored. Just is what it is. We have to keep going and learn from it. Take what is positive and take the points back to the Czech Republic.
"The top transition goal we scored, we scored amazing goals and could have created more if we were a bit more clinical in the last 20 metres. We had an incredible amount of ball wins. We couldn't convert enough into chances and goals, otherwise we would have won the match.
“There will always be moments when you suffer like this. It matters that you take your chances. Spells of the game were very good, but the result doesn't prove it today."
