“It also gives an indication of how strong Spain are. Maybe he’ll have to wait after this competition [the World Cup] and if he keeps playing well for Everton then maybe he can get his way into the squad for the next European Championship qualifiers.”

Yesterday’s triumph was Everton’s biggest win of the season and the first time they have scored five since thrashing Brann 6-1 in the UEFA Cup in February 2008.

Victor Anichebe also saw a goal disallowed while Yakubu missed a penalty, and such was his team’s dominance that Moyes struggled to keep track of the score.

“We played some really good football, and to score six against them... was it six or five?” said Moyes. “Six, aye. One of the radio boys said we’d scored five, and I was going to say something, and I thought ‘was it five, I’m sure it was six’.”

When informed the game ended 5-1, Moyes added: “Did I say six? Someone said it was six. So the [radio] boy was right? I’m glad I didn’t say anything then!”

The win moves Everton to within seven points of a likely European qualification place and extends their record to just two defeats in 15 Premier League games. And Moyes said: “It’s hard to say whether we can get into Europe. We have to just keep on going and if we keep winning games then we might be talking about good things at the end of the season. And if we aren’t then I’m sure we’ll look back at our poor start and the injuries. But if we play like we did today, we can at least send our supporters away thinking we have a good team”