Anthony Gordon: It's truly regrettable that we didn't achieve the desired result.

Anthony Gordon stated that despite England's 2-3 defeat to World Cup champions Spain in the UEFA Nations League, the team is steadily progressing towards competing with the world's top teams. This was also the first meeting between the two teams since the conclusion of this summer's North American World Cup, and a packed Wembley Stadium witnessed a thrilling and intense match.  

Spain got off to a dream start with a goal from Anthony Gordon's Barcelona teammate, Yamal. England then gradually took control of the game and equalized through a smooth counter-attack by Anthony Gordon. Shortly after, captain Harry Kane headed in a goal to put England ahead.  

In the second half, England had a chance to extend their lead to 3-1, but Harry Kane missed a penalty, which proved to be a crucial turning point in the match. Subsequently, Spain scored through Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal to complete the comeback and defeat England 3-2.  

After the game, Anthony Gordon said, "I think it was a really unfortunate missed opportunity. It was a very exciting game, with both sides showing a very high quality on offense. But in this level of competition, any mistake can have a price. Frankly, you always feel like we handed the victory to ourselves rather than being truly defeated by the opponent."  

"Of course we can discuss this, because their performance was just as good as ours, and we are equally capable of competing with them, but we made a few mistakes during the game."  

“If Harry Kane had converted that penalty, I think the game would have been our match point. That would have put us in a very advantageous position and given us the opportunity to extend our lead. We were both looking to keep scoring and were prepared to press forward in the second half to finish the game. Penalties are part of the game, and nobody intentionally misses one, so we will learn from this experience.”  

Anthony Gordon also stated that this match reflected the style of play England hopes to continue in the future. He said, "We've been discussing what kind of style of play the team should develop in the future, and if I had to give a concrete example, this match would be the template we hope to create."  

"As I said a few days ago, I don't think there's a significant gap between us and them. I think we're completely on the same level, and we have the ability to win these kinds of matches."  

"If we had converted that penalty, I think we would have won the game. Looking back now, it's easy to say that, but I felt really good on the pitch at the time. I thought that if we had converted the penalty, the game would have gone in our favor. So, I don't think there was a significant gap between the two sides. I was very confident at the time, but confidence doesn't guarantee a victory. However, I still want to emphasize that tonight's game has proven that we are a top team."  

Image source: Internet/England official website