England and Spain draw as respect shines through on path to progress
Stars of tomorrow, including under-21 debutant Jobe Bellingham, swap shirts and stories in goalless friendly
Dean Huijsen revived an old tradition here. When was the last time you saw a footballer not just swap shirts with his opponent but immediately put it on too? As the final whistle went, the Bournemouth defender who was born in Amsterdam but represents Spain where he was raised, made straight for Samuel Iling-Junior who, like him, had played at Juventus. He moved like a young man on a mission, which it turned out he was. They embraced and when Huijsen finally walked off he was wearing white, a No 14 on the back.
It had been that kind of night, a familiarity and a sort of mutual admiration about the place, something of themselves seen in each other. Something shared, and not just, as it turned out, the scoreline. At the end, ball boys holding camera phones had run on seeking out Jobe Bellingham, who had played over an hour on his U21 debut, while players from each side made their way towards familiar faces, of which there were many. This was a friendly that was, well, friendly.
