Spain became the third side to book their spot in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 following a comfortable 2-0 win over France on Saturday.
It keeps their hopes of securing a third consecutive tournament alive, while they will face Portugal on Wednesday it what looks set to be an explosive encounter.
France found it difficult this evening, and despite improving after the break, a goal in either half from Xabi Alonso secured the victory for the Spaniards.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two:
Spain statistics:
Shots 10
On target 5
Possession 53%
Corners 7
Fouls 6
France statistics:
Shots 5
On target 1
Possession 47%
Corners 3
Fouls 12
Was the result fair?
Absolutely. It wasn't the greatest of performances from Spain, but they dominated the opening period and were also in control in the latter stages. France had a decent spell in the second half, but they registered just a singular shot on target in the entire 90 minutes – which tells its own story.
Spain's performance
Vicente Del Bosque's side were simply wonderful in the first half and as expected, they dominated possession. Their movement and invention was also sensational, but they tired after the break and in truth, did not offer much in the second period. It is always the sign of good team, however, to win when not playing your best.
France's performance
If France had turned up with a better attitude, then they just might have sneaked through this one. They clearly set up to defend, which is fine, but they did not offer Karim Benzema any support in attack. Franck Ribery was their stand-out player, but his late efforts were not enough.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jordi Alba: The Valencia full-back was wonderful this evening. The much-coveted 23-year-old defended heroically and caused the French all sorts of problems with his attacking running. He also set up Alonso's first goal of the night with a pin-point cross.
Referee performance
It was a fairly comfortable evening for Nicola Rizzoli, but he perhaps should have awarded Spain an early penalty when Gael Clichy felled Cesc Fabregas in the area.
Biggest gaffe of the game
Florent Malouda had an absolute horror show in the build-up to the opening Spanish goal. He let Alonso drift into the box with no challenge to head home unmarked. The Chelsea man just stood and watched.
What next?
Spain: Spain advance to the semi-finals where they are joined by Portugal and Germany. They will face the former on Wednesday.
France: That's it for the French. They will probably still be ruing missing the chance to top Group D and therefore avoid the Spaniards in the quarter-finals.
