The Real Madrid midfielder has expressed his relief in wake of La Roja’s semi-final victory over the Seleccao on Wednesday.
Spain’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Xabi-Alonso-c37045 has appeared more than pleased with his national side paving their way into the final of the Euro 2012.
The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 player is glad that the Spanish will have a chance of defending their European title in the final of the prestigious tournament.
La Furia Roja clashed against their Iberian neighbours http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984 in the last four encounter of this year’s European Championship at the Donbass Arena, on Wednesday.
The match that was massively competitive from start to end saw the Reds secure a crucial victory after a tough penalty shootout.
Alonso realizes how important the win in the semi-final was and believes that it was the good fortune of the World champions that helped them book a place in the showdown of the prestigious tournament.
As the game kicked-off, the Portuguese took little time in pressing the ball in the Spanish half as they took the game to Del Bosque’s men. The Navigators refused to back down and did allow their opponents much space on the ball.
The defending champions of Europe faced a number of complications as they could not play with their usual tiki-taka style-of-play due to the resilience of the Seleccao.
With the 90 minutes coming to an end, and the scores tied at 0-0, the match went on to extra time.
Extra time ended in stalemate again, and the match had to be decided on penalties. After scoring 4 of their penalties, Spain finally put the game to bed.
Xabi http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alonso-c5254 stated that he is full of relief now that his side is in the final.
While talking to reporters, the veteran midfielder quoted:
"Fortunately there was a happy ending for us today [Wednesday], but it was tough and we had to work for it. It was a very even game. In extra time we had a lot of chances, but someone has to win and fortune smiled on us. If someone had scored in the 90 minutes
they'd have won the game.”
"We knew it was going to be a difficult match, we'd studied them and we knew they'd come out strong and look to take advantage of their physical qualities, and we'd also have to stop their counter-attacks.”
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 at Kiev on Sunday.
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