March 26, 2001

Smith 'Twins' destroy Spain

by Colin A. Aldis

England 4 Spain 2
22nd March 2001, 7.45pm

At the 5th attempt, and the first friendly between the two countries, England managed to beat Spain 4-2, in a match at Luton Town AFC, as part of their warm up to the UEFA Finals in June.

The England squad now have 4 players who have funds to play football, including 2 USA based students, but it was Britain based student Sue Smith who caused havoc for the Spanish team, after Kelly Smith (ex Seton Hall, and now with Philadelphia Charge) had equalised.

On a day when there was some improvement in the weather which has been chaotic for the domestic season, and for 3602 spectators the match started at a furious pace. But it was a couple of errors in the England defence that gave the first goal to the visitors. A crossfrom the left was headed to an opponent, who laid the ball back to Itziar Gurrutxaga, and her low shot from 22 metres slipped through the fingers of keeper Leanne Hall, and into the goal.

With England in a more positive mood, after several good wins, they were soon on level terms, with a cross from the left going to
Kelly Smith, who struck a low shot just inside the right post. In the 31st minute, England had to make a change when Tara Proctor
was carried off after a clash with the Spanish scorer, but such was the gradual improvement after the early setback that the home team was leading just 3 minutes later. A corner on the right by Sue Smith was headed away, but the ball went back to her and a superb shot from 25 metres flew into the top left corner of the net. The best goal of the game did not count, when Univ. of Florida's Danielle Murphy sent over a cross from the right, and Kelly Smith volleyed the ball into the top right corner, but the offside flag went up.

England made 3 changes at half-time and Spain just one, with thehome team creating most of the chances. It was a surprise when Spain equalised just after the hour mark. Substitute Paulina Ferre broke away from half-way with Julie Fletcher chasing, and
as Rachel Brown came out the England defender touched the ball away from her keeper which only helped the Spanish striker who slid the ball into an empty net from the left.

But this was to be the night for Sue Smith, who is believed to have turned down a WUSA place, as she curled over a cross from
the left. The ball went over Ines Herrera, who had been on the pitch for just 6 minutes, and inside the right post to give England a 3-2 lead. Just to prove that this was the night for the Smith headlines, the Tranmere Rovers star (who will play in her first major final next week-end) was then shown the yellow card for delaying a free kick, which may have been a first?

In the 76th minute the match was secured and the personal hat-trick for Sue Smith achieved, as she curled a free kick from
30 metres over the wall into the top right corner which was over the line before the keeper could get her hand on it.

This was an encouraging start to the year, with another match to be played on May 27th 2001also in England. Compared with
some of the other 7 UEFA finalists the number of warm-up matches and time together appears to be extremely small.

With matches against Russia, who have improved dramatically in the last 5 years (who are keeping very quiet), then Sweden (who
recently won the Algarve Cup) and Germany (the reigning UEFA champions) in the Finals tournament, this was always going to
be a tough task starting June 24th 2001.

Looking further ahead to the World Cup qualifying matches, England will have to play Germany again (home and away) plus 2
matches against Holland and Portugal, so again this is tough competition. With only 5 UEFA teams in the 2003 Finals, there
will be 2 extra matches for the teams who come 2nd in each of the 4 groups. The top team in each group automatically
qualifies for the 16 team finals tournament, to be held in China.

GOALS:
ENGLAND: K. Smith (18 min)
S. Smith (35,67,76 min)

SPAIN: I. Bengoe (12 min)
P. Ferre (62 min)

Referee:Elke Gunthner (Germany)

Attendance:3602