England were ‘world-class’ in shock Uefa Nations League victory over Spain, admits Sergio Ramos
Goals from Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford earned Gareth Southgate's men a famous victory in Seville
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Your support makes all the difference.Spain captain Sergio Ramos admitted that England produced a “world-class” performance to earn a shock 3-2 victory over Luis Enrique’s men in Seville.
Gareth Southgate's men stunned Spain in one of the most memorable England wins of modern times, and their first on Spanish turf since 1987.
Raheem Sterling scored two goals in the opening 45 minutes, having only netted twice in his previous 45 international appearances, with Marcus Rashford sweeping home in an extraordinary first half which Spain midfielder Dani Ceballos called a "disaster" for his side.
Spain were much improved after the break and responded with goals from Paco Alcacer and Ramos, who was encouraged by his team's riposte.
“The beautiful thing about football is that it gives you an opportunity to turn things around,” Ramos was quoted as saying by L'Equipe following Spain's first competitive defeat on home soil since 2003.
“England are world-class opponents with some very dangerous players. We had to forget the first half and turn it around in the time it took them to go 3-0 up.
“It's a shame we couldn't answer them. It didn't go as planned.”
Ramos' Real Madrid team-mate Dani Ceballos came on as a second-half substitute and set up one of Spain's goals, but their late rally was not enough to ruin England’s night.
“The first half was a bit of a disaster and it left us in a bad position,” he told Marca. “The coach asked us to be ourselves, as we have been in previous matches, but we couldn't.”
Making his first England appearance for more than two years, Ross Barkley was one of the visitors’ most impressive performers, playing an excellent through pass to set up the third goal.
Barkley has shown signs of taking his career to the next level at Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri this season, and teammate Marcos Alonso believes the 24-year-old can be exactly what England were missing at the World Cup last summer – even as they made an historic run to the semi-finals.
Alonso feels England do not have another midfielder with Barkley's quality on the ball. “Even at the World Cup England, despite playing well, were aware that they didn't really have that kind of player, someone in the middle who played and made others play, who used the ball,” he said.
“He's a great player. He showed it not just today but against Croatia [last Friday] too: he showed that he can be a great player. I hope he keeps improving and helps us at Chelsea to stay near the top.”
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