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07th Sep 2015

Spain have moved their friendly with England to Alicante for a curious reason

They cante do that...can they?

Tom Victor

England’s upcoming friendly against Spain will take place at the home of a third-tier club, for the most bizarre of reasons.

Estadio JosĆ© Rico PĆ©rez is the home of HĆ©rcules, who play in the same division asĀ 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 BernabĆ©u 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…

Former Manchester United defender Gerard PiquĆ© has been subject to loud booing and whistling from sections of the Madrid crowd at previous matches, including Spain’s qualification victory over Slovakia.

PiquĆ©’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 couldĀ to avoid any more unsavoury scenes.