England started their campaign in the Euro 2016 Qualifier with a bang after scoring a 2-0 win against Switzerland, while Spain also started on a bright note with a dominating 5-1 win against Macedonia on Monday.
Danny Welbeck took the spotlight for England as he scored a goal in the 59th minute then sealed the win with another one in extra time, giving their fans something to cheer about after a disappointing campaign in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Wayne Rooney, who played in his first game as the Three Lions' team captain, said after the match the way they controlled the pace was the reason why they ran away with an impressive win.
"We caught them on the break with the speed we have been talking about and Danny got two great goals," Rooney said in an interview via ESPN FC. "We played some great stuff. We defended well as a team, which was important for us and we took our chances."
Former world champion Spain was also on target on Monday's Euro 2016 Qualifier as they dominated Macedonia at the Bernabeu in Madrid to erase the bitter memory of their early exit in the FIFA World Cup.
Sergio Ramos opened the scoring parade with a goal on penalty in the 16th minute, while Paco Alcacer added another one in the 17th minute before Macedonia's Agim Ibraimi also converted a penalty kick in the 28th minute.
Sergio Busquets then gave Spain a 3-1 lead before the break. The Spanish side sustained momentum in the second half and did not allow Macedonia to get into their rhythm as David Silva and Pedro sealed the win with goals in the 50th minute and extra time, respectively.
"We knew we had lost credit at the World Cup, and that we had to recover that," Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said after the match. "You do that out on the pitch, trying to play good football. We began the competition with three points and the performance of the team has been good."
The complete Euro 2016 Qualifier results for Monday's matches are as follows:
- Russia 4 - 0 Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg 1 - 1 Belarus
- Spain 5 - 1 Macedonia
- Ukraine 0 - 1 Slovakia
- Estonia 1 - 0 Slovenia
- San Marino 0 - 2 Lithuania
- Switzerland 0 - 2 England
- Austria 1 - 1 Sweden
- Montenegro 2 - 0 Moldova
