Spain moved a step closer to an unprecedented treble of consecutive major international honours by beating France 2-0 in Donetsk on Saturday to reach the Euro 2012 semi-finals. Goals in each half from Xabi Alonso, on his 100th international appearance, sent the world and European champions into a semi-final with Iberian rivals Portugal in the same Donbass Arena stadium on Wednesday.
“I think we had things well under control throughout,” said Alonso. “It was never going to be easy but I thought we played a great match.”
It was Spain’s first competitive win in seven attempts against France, who were bidding to become the first team to eliminate Spain from a major tournament since the French side that reached the 2006 World Cup final.