After a largely encouraging first year in charge, which included wins in Croatia, Germany and Belarus, the Three Lions were handed a sobering reality check by Euro 2008 winners Spain.

Although there were positive aspects for Capello to pick out of the 2-0 friendly defeat, there could be no delusions of grandeur when faced with the brilliance of Xavi, the delightful finishing skills of David Villa or the knowledge Fernando Torres was a handful despite being some way short of his best.

Yet the Italian remains optimistic, acknowledging the trip, despite offering insufficient time to prepare, was well worthwhile.

"It is not a step backwards, it is one step forward," Capello said.

"When you play against Spain everyone understands you can lose sometimes. In the future I hope we will win."

It was neither an excuse nor a criticism when Capello observed he had insufficient time to prepare for a test of such magnitude.

Having to bring the outward flight forward from Tuesday lunchtime to Monday evening to avoid the inclement weather back home hardly helped either.

But the brutal truth is that England are presently operating at a level below Spain, even if Capello is hungrily devouring every snippet of information to get his team in better shape for the tests which lie ahead.

"You learn more in defeat and yes, this could be our most important lesson of the year," he added.

"The next time we play a game like this we will all understand what we have to do."

Although he feels they have regressed since the win over Germany a couple of months ago, Capello believes England will return to that standard when he gets his squad together for the extended build up to a crucial World Cup qualifier with Ukraine on April 1.

However, he is concerned that while his side are able to come through the high-octane, physically demanding tests provided by Germany and other northern European teams, the more subtle demands presented by Latin American opposition remain out of reach.

It is one of the reasons he was so keen to play this friendly and, presumably, why England's Under-21 side tackled the full Ecuador national side in nearby Malaga on Tuesday.

"Every game is different," he said. "Normally my team imposes its own style on the opposition. This time we didn't. It was the worst part of the evening.

"Our style is fine against a lot of teams. But when we play against South American teams we have to understand what to do."

The challenge of finding the extra 5% which turns good teams into champions is not insurmountable, even if it would be wrong to cite the absence of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard as the solution.

Such an important pair were missed but the physical demands of the Premier League mean someone else will inevitably be missing when England meet again for the friendly with Slovakia which precedes the Ukraine showdown by four days.

Part of the answer comes through the type of confidence and trust that Spain have built up since beating England at Old Trafford two years' ago. Results last year suggest that aspect will evolve naturally.

But England need to heed the lesson Spain provided about keeping possession.

"We had as many chances to score but Spain played better because possession is very important to them," observed Capello.

"All their players are technically very good. It is very difficult to win back the ball. But that is what friendly matches are for."

Eighteen months have passed since the Three Lions last roared on home soil, when Guus Hiddink'sRussia were put to the sword. A few weeks later they lost to Croatia and were eliminated from a major championships for the first time in 14 years.

Since then, England's fans have proved hard to please. If they can get off the players' backs and allow them the freedom to express themselves, it should be another three points and trips to South Africa 2010 can start being planned.

And for Capello and his players, it would be time to start revising for the ultimate examination.

"I am disappointed about the result but I have learned a lot," Capello said.

"Even if we are not technically as good, I still think we can beat Spain."