A sensational 72nd-minute volley from Mario Gaspar inspired Spain to a 2-0 friendly victory over England in Alicante.
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Del Bosque had surprisingly chosen to play two strikers in the form of Paco Alcacer and Diego Costa and both came close to the opener before half-time.
He has scored twice in 11 Premier League games for Manchester United this term, well behind the league’s top scorer Jamie Vardy (12 goals) of Leicester City, and Kane, who has five in his last three league games.
All that can be said for England is that the finish belonged to the realm of talent that cannot be prepared for, even though Chris Smalling did allow him the yard or two to find the execution.
The result put an end to England’s 15-game unbeaten streak, which dated back to last year’s Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup in Brazil.
The England boss told his postgame news conference that it was early to say yet the full extent of Carrick’s problem, but the initial prognosis was not good and his squad was already threadbare due to other injury concerns.
“He won’t start the game tomorrow, that is for the very simple reason that we are looking for different combinations and he is pencilled in for the game against France (on Tuesday)”.
“We didn’t pass the ball as well as we would have liked”.
“It’s a huge challenge to keep your place in the team and that’s what I want to do”.
Michael Carrick, the Manchester United and England midfielder, looks set for a prolonged period on the sidelines, after he was stretchered off while playing for England against Spain last night.
“It doesn’t look good”, Hodgson said.
Afterwards Hart conceded that Gaspar’s effort was “a super goal, a great goal” although he complained that the match was played on a “third division pitch”.
He said: “We played against a very good team”.
There was the occasional bright spot for Hodgson, in flashes of skill from Ross Barkley in the first half and, until the goals, a decent performance from Phil Jones and Chris Smalling at centre-back.
Twelve minutes after Mario volleyed Spain ahead, Cazorla wrapped up the win for the hosts with a curling shot that went in off a post. In a few moments we passed it well, but we can do better in possession – we have players who can be a bit more risky in attacking situations.
It was a harsh lesson for England and evidence of the gap they must bridge before France next summer, their misery increasing when Michael Carrick was taken off on a stretcher in stoppage time.
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Spain lost Thiago to injury in the 26th minute but they were not inconvenienced too much with Arsenal midfielder Cazorla summoned from the bench by Del Bosque.
