England manager Roy Hodgson felt his side were more than competitive against Spain and rued the manner of the opening goal.
It came through right-back Mario Gaspar, with Santi Cazorla later adding a second, and Hodgson told the Press following the final whistle that the Three Lions were in the game to that point, while acknowledging La Roja’s superiority.
“We chose a tough one, especially tonight with the situation we found ourselves in but for 70 minutes we defended really well,” Hodgson said, according to Sky Sports.
“I thought the work rate and the discipline of the players was good and it's a little bit saddening that it was a counter-attack that cost us the game.
“Spain were very good. It was a really tough ask for our midfield, especially when we had to take [Adam] Lallana and [Fabian] Delph off which we had to do to protect them.
“They were really at the limit of what they could do. It was on that occasion that Spain profited and actually went on to win the game.
“I am not suggesting they didn't deserve to win the game, of course they did but hopefully we will learn from this evening.
“Hopefully, we won't lose confidence because there's still a lot more to come from our game. We weren't always allowed to show it this evening.
“Our passing and decision making has to be better. We can't afford to give balls away in those areas.
“Spain do not give the ball that often and even on the one or two occasions they do they are very good at recovering. I don't really want to criticise the players. We take the responsibility. We don't want excuses.”
