Leamington born Ben Foster was the first man picking the ball out of the net when Benzema scored with a low drive in the 16th minute. Valbuena added a second in the 54th minute, watched by a crowd of 85,494, which included a good number of Coventry City supporters.
Former Coventry City forward Jay Bothroyd became the first Championship player to play for England for three and a half years and the first ever to play for a Welsh club when he came on in the 72nd minute replacing Andy Carroll.
Then there was three ex City players on the pitch when Stephen Warnock came on for Gibbs, seconds after Bothroyd had been introduced.
Tottenham's Peter Crouch, who had just come on, pulled one back for England in the 85th minute but despite five minutes of stoppage time, England went down to defeat.