We should have been talking about Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets and the other superstars of European and world champion Spain. One of the truly great teams of any era is playing England at Wembley on Saturday but the visit of the best international side on the planet has been almost an irrelevance.
The buildup to the prestige friendly has been dominated not by football but by the row between the Football Association and FIFA over the right of the England players to wear a poppy on their shirts ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
FIFA bans any insignia of a political, religious or commercial connotation, which is understandable. A poppy does not fall into any of those categories however. It is worn to pay respect to those who gave their lives at war. A national anthem is more political than a poppy.