Friendly international

Belgium 0 - Spain 2

Belgium: Courtois; Meunier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Jordan Lukaku; Witsel, Nainggolan (Dembelé 46’); Carrasco (Mirallas 76’), De Bruyne (Defour 87’), Hazard; Origi (Romelu Lukaku 69’). 4-2-3-1.
Spain: De Gea; Dani Carvajal (Sergi Roberto 84’), Piqué (Marc Bartra 59’), Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba (Azpilicueta 59’); Thiago, Busquets, Koke; Vitolo (Saúl Ñíguez 75’), Morata (Diego Costa 26’), David Silva (Lucas Vázquez 75’). 4-3-3.

Goals:
0-1. 33. David Silva. Drove low shot past Courtois after Diego Costa laid ball back.
0-2. 61. David Silva (penalty). After Jordan Lukaku tripped Vitolo inside the area.

Spain won their first match under new coach Julen Lopetegui, a 0-2 victory over Belgium setting them up for Monday night’s opening World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein. Lopetegui knew many of the players from his time in charge of the under 21 squad, and although Casillas and some of the older faces were missing, his line up was similar to the one Del Bosque put out in the recent European champions. Unfortunately he lost Morata to an injury early on, but Diego Costa came on, and with ten minutes to go to the break the Chelsea striker put the final touch to a move involving Carvajal and Vitolo to set up David Silva for the opener. After the restart ex Atlético keeper Courtois was in action to save a Piqué header and a shot from Costa, but with an hour on the clock Jordan Lukaku tripped Vitolo in the area, and Silva stepped up to convert the resulting penalty. After that both coaches made the usual changes, Saúl Ñíguez making his debut for the senior squad, and shortly before the end De Gea pulled off his first real save of the night from De Bruyne. A good start to Spain’s new era, but by contrast the Belgian fans were not happy, and they booed their own players off at the end. Their new Spanish born coach Roberto Martínez has more work to do than Lopetegui it seems!