Copenhagen - Vicente del Bosque made a promising debut as national manager of Spain on Wednesday, leading the Euro 2008 champions to an impressive 3-0 romp away to Denmark, with two goals from midfielder Xabi Alonso. The Copenhagen friendly was overshadowed by the Madrid airport disaster earlier Wednesday that left more than 140 Hispanair passengers bound for the Canary Islands dead in a takeoff accident.
Both teams in the Parken Stadion wore black armbands, and there was a minute's silence before the match in honour of the victims.
Carrying on from where they left off at Euro 2008, Spain dominated possession from start to finish. They should have been given a penalty in the 16th minute for a clumsy lunge by Per Kroldrup at Fernando Torres.
Just before the interval Danish keeper Thomas Sorensen did well to keep out a fierce volley from Xavi Hernandez.
It was no surprise when Spain finally took the lead in the 50th minute. Torres played a clever one-two with Xavi, skipped past the hapless Kroldrup and pulled the ball back for Liverpool colleague Xabi Alonso to score with a half-volley.
In the 73rd minute, man-of-the-match Xavi made it 2-0 with one of his trademark long drives, after taking a short pass from debutant substitute Diego Capel of Sevilla.
Spain's other debutant was Athletic Bilbao right-back Andoni Iraola. The only surprise was that Barcelona teenage sensation Bojan Krkic did not come off the bench to make his long-awaited debut.
Xabi Alonso completed the rout in injury time by turning in a precise centre from Capel.
With the Danish defence in tatters, Santi Cazorla almost made it 4-0 right at the death - but his shot came back off the far post.
"I am really pleased with tonight's display and with the result," said a serious-looking Del Bosque, before offering his sympathy for the families of the Madrid victims.
