Michael Owens England debut had bought my ticket well in advance halfway up near the halfway line but my expected good view was ruined a minute before kickoff when some 6ft6 bloke sat in front of me taking out most of midfield! Salas scored twice inc a pen

The night had begun with so much promise, or so it seemed. Owen was put in the starting line-up as was Dublin, who was replacing the injured Andy Cole. Butt was also given his first start. Despite the scoreline, neither player making his debut were disappointing. In fact Michael Owen, who broke the record as the youngest player to wear an England senior shirt, was named Man of the Match. The performance will give Hoddle and his staff plenty to think about between now and the next game in March. At the start of the game it seemed as though England could emerge as victors. In just the second minute over 65,000 fans almost witnessed Sheringham putting the home team in the lead, but sadly the dream start was not to be. Four minutes later Owen nearly maintained his record of scoring on every debut in an England shirt but alas it was not to be. Tapia managed to tip the ball clear after Owen shot from 10 yards. England were enjoying a spell of attacking football with Dublin and Owen combining well, but Chile came to life after being awarded a free kick. Sierra tried to give his team the lead but the effort was high. Salas was beginning to work his way into the game and was involved in a Chilean move which was almost converted but for Martyn, who cleared away danger. On the stroke of half-time Chile went into the lead. Salas struck the ball to score an excellent goal. England started the second period with a pair of fresh legs, Le Saux replacing Phil Neville. Again, England started well, with Owen heading the ball towards Chile''s goal but Tapia was there to prevent the equaliser. With time ticking by, England were beginning to become frustrated, which would have escalated if Barrera had put Chile two goals to the good. Hoddle saw this as the sign to send on Shearer and Ince for Sheringham and Batty respectively, with just under 30 minutes remaining. However this did not result in anything positive for England, although England''s fowards were keeping the Chilean defence busy. For all their efforts England could not put the ball into Chile''s goal. Salas, though, at the other end was having no trouble. He scored from a penalty after 79 minutes, giving Chile a two-goal advantage. Campbell was the offender. England have five games remaining before France to get the chemistry right, lets hope they can do it. Hoddle was disappointed after the game saying, If we''re looking for positives it could be that this will do us all the good in the world. It might just serve to bring us back down to earth. It could help us in the long run because in these matches I am looking for players who might back us up in the World Cup squad. It''s not really experimenting but I look at my bench which shows me it''s obvious I could have fielded a stronger side. Our passing and movement just wasn''t there tonight like it has been in the previous eight or nine games and really we didn''t have a proper defensive head on all night. The mental approach wasn''t right, certainly not like it has been. I suppose it''s understandable in some ways in a friendly, but the players must know that they''re out there playing for World Cup places. Teams ENGLAND: Martyn, G Neville, Campbell, Batty (Ince 62 mins), Adams, P Neville (Le Saux 46 mins), Lee, Butt, Dublin, Sheringham (Shearer 62 mins), Owen. Subs Not Used: Southgate, Hislop, McManaman, Gascoigne. CHILE: Tapia, Villarroel, Reyes, Fuentes, Margas, Rojas, Parraguez. Acuna, Sierra (Valenzuela 88 mins), Barrera (Carreno 77 mins), Salas. Sub Not Used: Ramirez, Cornejo, Vega, Galdames, Rozental. Match Details Chile Scorers: Salas (45 & 79 mins) England cautions: Ince Chile cautions: Salas Referee: R Wojcik (Poland) Attendance: 65,228