 His first call @-@ up to the senior national squad came in October 2004 , for World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Lithuania , as a replacement for Juanito who dropped out of the original selection because of injury . Carlos Marchena and Carles Puyol were the centre @-@ back pairing in possession , and Pablo remained on the bench for both games . He made his international debut on 17 November 2004 in a friendly against England in Madrid . He entered the game as a half @-@ time substitute for Marchena , with Spain leading 1 – 0 ; with 20 minutes left , he appeared to foul Alan Smith in the act of shooting , but no penalty was awarded , and Spain had no difficulty retaining their lead . Pablo replaced Iván Helguera , who had previously been a regular selection , in the squad for Spain 's next match , a World Cup qualifier at home to San Marino in February 2005 , but did not play . 
