Roy Hodgson’s England have “great potential” but need to be more organised, said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque on the eve of today’s friendly between the two nations.
England impressed with a perfect 10 wins as they topped Euro 2016 Group E qualifying and will be looking to carry that form into the finals in France next year.
Holders Spain also won their group after recovering from an early reverse to Slovakia and will chase an unprecedented third consecutive European title after their triumphs in 2008 and 2012.
“England have a team with great potential and are individually very strong,” Del Bosque told a news conference ahead of the game at Alicante’s Jose Rico Perez stadium.
“Once they have a bit of organisation they will be a great side.”
Spain and England last met in November 2011 when a Frank Lampard goal was enough for a 1-0 home victory at Wembley.
The 2010 world champions went on to win Euro 2012, conceding only one goal in the tournament and thrashing Italy 4-0 in the final while England were knocked out by the Italians on penalties in the quarter-finals.
Del Bosque again defended combative Chelsea striker Diego Costa who has been underperforming for club and country in recent months but has been included in Spain’s squad.
Costa has made nine appearances for La Roja since choosing them over his native Brazil but has only managed one goal, the third in a 4-0 victory over Luxembourg.
Del Bosque, who has also been critical of Costa’s disciplinary problems in the Premier League, said he was confident the 27-year-old would succeed at international level.
“We know what Diego Costa’s character is like,” said the coach.
“He is not here because we are obliged to bring him because he has any debt to us. He is here because we believe in him.”
After hosting England, Spain travel to Brussels to play Belgium in another friendly on Tuesday.
Experiments
Meanwhile, England captain Wayne Rooney will not start today’s friendly and fellow forward Jeremy Vardy is struggling with a knock and is unlikely to feature, Hodgson said.
Hodgson told a news conference he was keen to experiment against both the European champions and France in another friendly on Tuesday, when Rooney would be playing, but refused to reveal his starting line-up for the Spain game.
With Rooney and Vardy missing, Hodgson is likely to deploy Harry Kane and Ross Barkley up front for the clash in Alicante.
“Jeremy Vardy is struggling with a knock he picked up on Saturday,” Hodgson said.
“We’re monitoring it, we’re still working on it but it looks unlikely at this moment in time that he’ll be able to play tomorrow (today).
“Wayne’s with me today (at the news conference) because he’s the captain of our team and is the most important figure as a result but he actually won’t start the game tomorrow.
“That’s for the very simple reason ... that we’re looking at various combinations amongst that group of four players and Wayne is in actual fact pencilled in to play the game against France on Tuesday.”
Today’s matches
Qatar vs Turkey - 18.30
Luxembourg vs Greece - 19.30
Czech Republic vs Serbia - 20.30
Belgium vs Italy - 20.45
N. Ireland vs Latvia - 20.45
Poland vs Iceland - 20.45
Slovakia vs Switzerland - 20.45
Spain vs England - 20.45
Wales vs Netherlands - 20.45
France vs Germany - 21.00