Mexico 1-1 Spain
Silva salvages draw for Spain
David Silva struck in stoppage time to earn world champions Spain a draw in Mexico after Javier Hernandez had given the hosts an early lead.
A spirit of celebration was in the air at the legendary Estadio Azteca but the game failed to live up to expectations as even a 12th-minute strike from Manchester United new boy Hernandez could not light up a drab affair. Mexico thought they were heading for a famous victory but new Manchester City signing Silva levelled in added time to spare Spain’s blushes. The strike saw Carlos Marchena extend his impressive record with the national team – he has now made 56 appearances for his country without defeat.
It was La Roja’s first outing since adding the World Cup trophy to their European Championship title this summer, while Mexico were celebrating the 200th anniversary of gaining independence from, fittingly, Spain. Eighteen of the World Cup-winning 23 were present, with four of those who featured in the final in the starting line-up and six others appearing from the bench. Their lack of match-fitness after just returning from holiday was clear to see.
Spain started the game brightly but failed to carve out any real goalscoring opportunities. And they were stunned in the 12th minute when Hernandez opened the scoring, racing into the box to fire home Andres Guardado’s cross. It was the first goal Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas had conceded in 445 minutes of international football – the last shot that went past him was Rodrigo Millar’s for Chile in the World Cup group stages.
Van der Vaart press conference
Rafael van der Vaart is just as excited now as he was at the end of the 2009/10 season. The midfielder is also thrilled with the arrival of Jose Mourinho and that of new signings such as Sergio Canales and Ricardo Carvalho.
Van der Vaart: "Training sessions are very intense and always include the ball"
Pre-season:
We are all performing well so far. I like Canales a lot as both a player and person. He is very young, but I am sure he will play a lot this season, as will I.
Future:
I have another three years on my contract and I want to stay here because I like Real Madrid a lot.
Playing time:
The season is very long and I am confident that I will play a lot. There is nothing that scares me.
Just another Madridista
Junta speak