Spain stuns England as Kane blows penalty after teasing NFL switch
Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner as World Cup champions Spain capitalised on two calamitous England defensive errors to claim a thrilling 3-2 victory at Wembley on Sunday, in the standout fixture of the opening round of the Nations League.
Less than 10 weeks after they hoisted the World Cup, Spain made England pay in their first two goals.
Spain stuns England as Kane blows penalty days after teasing NFL switch Getty
Teen sensation Lamine Yamal struck in just the second minute when Marc Guehi was caught in possession deep inside his own half.
Alex Baena scored in the 60th minute after Nico O'Reilly's misplaced pass handed possession back to the visitors.
Oyarzabal, who also scored the winner against England in the 2024 European Championship final, struck the decider in the 74th minute with a clever dink over goalkeeper James Trafford.
Spain’s victory spoiled what had briefly looked like a memorable England comeback – and a small measure of redemption after their heartbreaking World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina.
England had turned the game on its head in a thrilling four-minute span, with Anthony Gordon’s 36th-minute equaliser sparking a blistering spell that culminated in captain Harry Kane heading the hosts in front.
Kane was left shaking his head after firing a second-half penalty off the inside of the crossbar when his left foot slipped upon planting.
The miss comes days after the veteran teased a potential career as a kicker in the NFL.
He stressed he could continue to play top-level football, given America’s Major League Soccer schedule does not overlap with the NFL’s.
It would be quite the move, but Kane said taking penalties and kicking field goals are quite the similar skill set.
“I take penalties and it is a very similar pressure and technique,” Kane said at the time.
“If I did that, in terms of training, I would be closer to that more than to any other sport. But as I know, with all elite sports, when you watch it on TV, people make it look easy, and you think it is possible, but that is not always the case.
“If I was to do it, it is something I would take seriously. I would take six months to a year to try and practice before.
“Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that it might be a thing where you could connect the two, with the seasons.”
If he launches penalties like he did on Sunday, he might just make it as a kicker.
England and Spain had arrived with very different World Cup memories, with Spain looking to build on their World Cup triumph and Thomas Tuchel's men still feeling the scars of defeat and looking to show they could narrow the gap on one of football's global standard-bearers.
In Sunday’s other Group A3 game, Croatia gave new manager Slaven Bilic a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic as evergreen captain Luka Modric once again proved influential before Marco Pasalic struck the decisive goal.
Scotland meanwhile began life under new manager Sebastien Pocognoli with a 0-0 draw against Slovenia in Nations League Group B1, offering early glimpses of the more attacking style the Belgian hopes to implement following Steve Clarke’s departure after Scotland’s World Cup exit.
