Chelsea's Frank Lampard came up trumps again, this time for England. Lampard was honoured to take the captain's armband and delighted to grab the winning goal that sunk the Spanish Armanda at Wembley yesterday.
The Chelsea midfielder, 33, notched his 23rd international goal in his 90th England appearance when he nodded home from close range in the 48th minute.
It might have looked an easy goal, but Frank wasn't having any of that. “Well, it wasn't considering we had to chase hard in the first half," he said. "You had to have the legs to get up there. But the actual finish, yeah, of course it was easy.
“It was a very exciting goal for me to score as I was captain of the team as well.
“To walk out there and captain against the world champions, I'll remember this. It became a very big game for me personally. And I think we showed something today. Spain obviously dominated possession at times in the game but the desire and commitment of our players was excellent.”
Lampard added: “I have kept the armband and all my family members were here. I've had great support - all the Chelsea people too. I'm delighted today. It might be the last time I captain England.
“Hopefully I can do it again but I don't care now - now I've worn that armband once at Wembley. It was very special.”
It was a welcome return of form for Lampard who hadn't started the season well. A bit of a turnaround?
“People spoke a lot because I missed a couple of games; one for England and one or two for Chelsea," said Lampard.
“I did keep believing in myself and just got my head down and tried to get back in the team. "Looking back it was nice little thing for me to learn from because it gave me a little reminder early in the season and I have to come back stronger.
“We're very very happy with the result, any win against a team of that quality has to be celebrated. We don't look like we are getting ahead of ourselves, because we know Spain had a lot of possession. We're aware of that. We're still waxing lyrical about the quality in their team even though we beat them.”
The 1-0 win is the first time England has beaten a reigning world champion since a 3-1 victory over Argentina in 1980, also at Wembley.
Did this suggest that England showed greater tactical nous than of late? Lampard thinks so. “Today we did," he said.
“It's like playing Barcelona. If you go gung ho and try and beat them at their own game then they are the best at it and you probably lose the game.
“We tried to counter attack.” Lampard was replaced in the second half but was he disappointed to come off? “Not really. The manager said at half time we were going to make changes. Obviously I wanted to stay on but he brought me off, that's the way he is.”
England coach Fabio Capello decided to make changes to his starting line-up and Phil Jones of Manchester United played alongside Lampard in midfield.
Lampard said of him: “I thought he did really well playing in midfield. Scott Parker was class. And all the back four were brilliant.”
Asked what the future holds for the midfielder, Lampard is pragmatic as ever: “Who knows, I want to carry on.
“On the domestic front with Chelsea and on the international front I've achieved a lot of things that I'm proud of. But I want to keep on achieving.”
With 90 caps under his belt since his debut against Belgium in 1999, Lampard ponders the prospect of reaching his century in the white shirt. "A hundred caps would be good but it's still a mile away.”
As for scoring against the world champions, Lampard still has his club at heart when considering his greatest moments: “It does take a lot of beating. Leading the team out and getting the goal as well. It's up there.
“But to be honest Chelsea winning the first league title was right up there. But captaining your country and walking out there today was great.
“The win will do a lot for the confidence in the camp. It shows we can take on anyone. It's a big boost for us. But let's not get carried away - people probably want us to get carried away now because they are waiting for a fall. We need to keep improving.”