It was supposed to be a "friendly" between England and Spain on Tuesday night at Wembley, but there were 20 fouls and 3 yellow cards in the first half alone, and there really should've been more -- starting with a red card for Jamie Vardy for this reckless challenge against Cesar Azpilicueta barely five minutes into the game. Vardy would of course go on to score (and draw a penalty as well) and celebrate annoyingly.
Not to be outdone, Theo Walcott joined in on the Azpilicueta-maiming fun with this sliding challenge from behind after losing a footrace. Yes, Azpilicueta out-sprinted Theo Walcott. Aren't tackles from behind like this supposed to be red cards? (Walcott did at least get a yellow while Vardy got nothing at all.)
Azpilicueta beats Walcott in a sprint (with the ball), Walcott brings him down and sees yellow. #ENG #ESP #CFC #AFC pic.twitter.com/Gwg0bAylhj
— amadí (@amadoit__) November 15, 2016
In the meantime, there was a match to be played, though for most of the evening, only England bothered to show up. Perhaps they were playing to really win the job for interim boss Gareth Southgate. And it was all going so well until Spain turned it on and scored twice in the final few minutes. Diego Costa's injury replacement call-up Iago Aspas scored on his debut while Koke Isco got the equalizer with just about the final kick of the match.
Gary Cahill started but played only the first half. Azpilicueta played the full 90, initially as part of a back three than as the left back tasked with shackling Walcott. Fortunately, Azpilicueta appears to be made out of titanium.
Elsewhere, N'Golo Kante got the start for France and played the full game (ugh), while opposite him, mystery man Victorian Angban played the last five minutes. France and Ivory Coast finished 0-0.
The Czech Republic also battled to a draw, 1-1 against Denmark, with Tomas Kalas playing the full game at center back. Serbia, meanwhile, lost for the first time in nine games, 2-0 to Ukraine. Nemanja Matic was rested while Branislav Ivanovic only played the final quarter of an hour (and collected a yellow card).
Later today, Brazil will take on Peru in a bit of competitive international action. (UPDATE: Willian play the final 8 minutes of a 2-0 win for Brazil.) And then we're back to proper football!