England’s upcoming friendly against Spain will take place at the home of a third-tier club, for the most bizarre of reasons.
Estadio José Rico Pérez is the home of Hércules, who play in the same division as Barcelona and Villarreal’s B teams and have not played top-flight football since 2010-11.
But the unlikely venue has replaced Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for the provisional friendly, which will take place on November 13, assuming Spain do not have a Euro 2016 playoff on the same day.
The reason might surprise you…
Spain will play England in Alicante on 13 Nov. Not in the Bernabéu as had been expected. Whistling of Piqué though to be behind change.
— AS USA (@English_AS) September 7, 2015
Former Manchester United defender Gerard Piqué has been subject to loud booing and whistling from sections of the Madrid crowd at previous matches, including Spain’s qualification victory over Slovakia.
Piqué’s treatment is thought to have been in response to his actions in the Spanish Super Cup, in which he levelled a vile insult at one of the match officials.
You can see why the Spanish FA would do all they could to avoid any more unsavoury scenes.
