Alonso's double helps Spain reach the semi-finals

Xabi Alonso had a great match to celebrate his 100th appearance for the national team when he scored twice to help Spain beat France 2-0 to reach the semi-finals of the European football championship (EURO 2012).

In the semi-finals, Spain will face Portugal and this will be a rematch of the 2010 World Cup round of 16, a match that Spain won 1-0 and then went on to win the championship.

Back to the quarter-final match, this was a well-deserved victory for the defending champions as they completely dominated the game and played overwhelmingly.

Meanwhile, internal conflicts have made the French team continue to pay a heavy price. After an impressive qualifying campaign, the "Roosters" could not overcome themselves and had to say goodbye to the most prestigious tournament in the old continent.

After two matches in which Fernando Torres started, coach Vicente del Bosque decided to leave him on the bench for the quarter-final against France. Torres' position was replaced by Cesc Fabregas.

This means the defending champions will play without a striker in the true sense of the word, which is the same formation they used in their opening group match against Italy.

Meanwhile, on the French team's side, midfielder Samir Nasri was not named in the starting lineup. Along with Nasri, another player playing in the Premier League, Evra, continued to sit on the bench in this match.

In the first minutes of the match, Spain was the dominant team, controlling the ball with fast and varied play.

In the 6th minute, Xabi Alonso passed a long ball into the penalty area for Fabregas to escape. The Barcelona player thought he was brought down by Clichy and demanded a penalty, but referee Rizzoli did not think so.

In the 8th minute, Pique and goalkeeper Casillas did not understand each other and made many Spanish fans' hearts sing. Luckily for Spain, Casillas' clearance did not hit the opponent and bounced back into the goal.

Spain are in complete control of the pitch, but they have not been able to get into the opponent's penalty area. Meanwhile, France have actively chosen a defensive style of play with a large number of players to counter the defending champions.

After a series of attacks, Spain took the lead. The French defense was torn apart by Alba's wonderful cross from the left for Alonso. The Real midfielder suddenly appeared in the box to head the ball into the ground to open the scoring.

After the goal, Spain played even more excitedly and continuously had dangerous situations towards goalkeeper Hugo Lloris' goal.

In the 26th minute, Benzema responded by shooting from a free kick about 27 meters from goal, but the shot was too high for Casillas' goal.

Immediately after, Fabregas made a smart pass into the penalty area but Iniesta's shot hit a French defender's foot and went out of bounds, resulting in a corner kick.

In the 32nd minute, France was awarded a free kick, Cabaye finished quite well, the ball flew into the top corner, making Casillas struggle to block it and concede a corner kick.

In the 38th minute, Fabregas chipped the ball over the French defense to Iniesta but Koscielny cleared the ball out to the sideline. In the next corner, Pique comfortably headed the ball hard but it did not hit the goal.

Ribery had to change his shirt due to a large tear along his side. The first half ended with a score of 1-0 in favor of Spain.

In the second half, the French team's play improved significantly when Spain proactively slowed down the pace of the match.

In the 60th minute, from Ribery's cross from the left wing, Debuchy threatened Casillas with a header that went over the crossbar and behind the goal.

Two minutes later, Xavi showed great vision by passing the ball to Fabregas. If the midfielder had been just a little quicker, goalkeeper Lloris might not have had the chance to clear the ball.

Realizing the difficult situation on the field, the French team decided to immediately replace two players Nasri and Menez for Debuchy and Malouda. On the Spanish side, Silva left to make way for Pedro. Torres was also warming up on the field. This was a rather strange change by coach Vicente del Bosque when he wanted the Chelsea striker to take advantage of France's high attack to seize the opportunity to double the gap.

In the 69th minute, Torres almost had a chance to score if Koscielny had not cleared the ball in time from Pedro's dangerous cross.

France immediately responded with a high-speed run down the left corner by Ribery and then crossed back. However, Casillas played brilliantly in this situation when he dived to catch the ball, not giving the opposing striker a chance.

In the 79th minute, France made their final substitution and continued to focus on the attack. Striker Olivier Giroud, a new signing for Arsenal next season, replaced defensive midfielder M'Vila. On the Spanish side, Iniesta was taken off and Cazorla came on.

In the 90th minute, the hope ended for the "Roosters" when Réveillere fouled Pedro in the penalty area. Spain was awarded a penalty and Alonso did not refuse the opportunity to complete a double in this match.

The match ended 2-0 in favor of Spain. The defending champions will face Portugal in the semi-finals. Ronaldo will have the opportunity to face his Real teammates in the upcoming highly anticipated match.

Line-up:

Spain: Iker Casillas (captain) - Alvaro Arbeloa, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba - Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso - David Silva (Pedro 65), Francesc Fabregas (Fernando Torres 67), Andres Iniesta (Santiago Cazorla 84)

France: Hugo Lloris (captain) - Anthony Reveillere, Adil Rami, Laurent Koscielny, Gael Clichy - Yohan Cabaye, Yann Mvila (Olivier Giroud 79), Florent Malouda (Samir Nasri 65) - Matthieu Debuchy (Jeremy Menez 64), Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery

Goal: Xabi Alonso 19, 90+1-pen

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)

According to (Vietnam+) - DT