Upson was named amongst the England substitutes but gained his seventh cap for his country when he replaced Chelsea centre-back John Terry 20 minutes into the second half.
Spain won the game 1-0 courtesy of a ninth minute goal from left back Asier Del Horno but the scoreline somewhat hid the fact that England were completely dominated by the home side throughout.
England: Robinson, G. Neville, Cole (Defoe,78), Butt, Ferdinand (Jamie Carragher, 62), Terry (Upson, 65), Beckham (Wright-Phillips, 60), Lampard (Jenas, 60), Rooney (Smith, 43), Owen, Bridge. Subs not used: James, P. Neville, Hargreaves, Kirkland.
Meanwhile, Blues full back Mario Melchiot started for Holland in their World Cup Group One qualifier against Andorra.
Melchiot played the full ninety minutes as the Dutch ran-out comfortable 3-0 winners in Barcelona. Philip Cocu, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder the scorers for Marco van Basten's side who go top of the group on goal difference ahead of Romania.
| FIFA 2006 World Cup European Qualifying | ||||||||
| Group One | ||||||||
| Andorra | (0) | 0 | Netherlands | (2) | 3 | 2,000 | ||
| Armenia | (0) | 1 | Romania | (1) | 1 | 2,500 | ||
| Macedonia FYR | (0) | 0 | Czech Republic | (0) | 2 | 12,000 | ||
| Group Two | ||||||||
| Georgia | (1) | 2 | Denmark | (1) | 2 | 30,000 | ||
| Greece | (2) | 3 | Kazakhstan | (0) | 1 | 35,000 | ||
| Turkey | (0) | 0 | Ukraine | (2) | 3 | 52,000 | ||
| Group Three | ||||||||
| Liechtenstein | (1) | 1 | Latvia | (1) | 3 | 1,500 | ||
| Luxembourg | (0) | 0 | Portugal | (2) | 5 | 8,300 | ||
| Russia | (3) | 4 | Estonia | (0) | 0 | 28,000 | ||
| Group Four | ||||||||
| Cyprus | (1) | 1 | Israel | (1) | 2 | 3,500 | ||
| Group Seven | ||||||||
| Belgium | (0) | 0 | Serbia & Montenegro | (1) | 2 | 32,000 | ||
| San Marino | (0) | 0 | Lithuania | (1) | 1 | 1,457 | ||
| Group Eight | ||||||||
| Malta | (0) | 0 | Hungary | (1) | 2 | 2,000 | ||
