DPA/Donetsk, Ukraine


France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Gael Clichy fail to save their goal as Spain’s Xabi Alonso scores
Xabi Alonso scored a brace on his 100th cap for Spain yesterday as the European champions earned a comfortable 2-0 win over hapless France and set themselves up for a mouth-watering semi-final with Portugal at Euro 2012.
The Real Madrid midfielder scored off a header in the 19th minute and with a penalty in the 90th to chants of “Que viva Espana” at Donetsk’s Dombass Arena.
Spain had never beaten France in a competitive fixture, and the last time the sides had met in a tournament, France eliminated the current world champions in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup.
This time round, however, France never looked like defeating the classier Spaniards, who won their quarter-final with minimum effort.
“We are very happy because we knew that in these kind of games we have to be there. The team was phenomenal and we controlled the game, despite not having too many chances,” the Man of the Match said.
“Personally, it was good to have reached 100 games and have scored two goals,” Xabi Alonso added.
The European and world champions now play Portugal in the same stadium on Wednesday.
In front of about 47,000 fans, Spain boss Vicente del Bosque once again opted for a no-striker formation - despite the criticisms he had received after deploying a similar tactic in their 1-1 draw against Italy - fielding midfielder Cesc Fabregas instead of Fernando Torres up front.
France’s Laurent Blanc, for his part, fielded a defensive formation, with Karim Benzema the lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation.
In all, there were four changes to the French team from their disappointing defeat against Sweden, with defender Philippe Mexes suspended and Samir Nasri and Alou Diarra both relegated to the bench.
Spain started in traditional fashion, dominating possession and tiring their opponents with one-touch, “tika-taka” football. Moreover, fielding no obvious striker meant the French defence had no reference point, leaving Andres Iniesta, Fabregas and David Silva free to roam in and out of the opponents’ penalty box.
In the 6th minute, Fabregas was challenged and brought down in the French area by Gael Clichy, but his appeals for a penalty were turned down by Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli.
And in the 19th came Spain’s well-deserved lead, with Jordi Alba finding Xabi Alonso unmarked inside the area after a great run on the left, and the Real Madrid midfielder beating French keeper Hugo Lloris with an unstoppable header.
France finally began to push forward but rarely looked threatening.
Les Bleus, donning white shirts for the occasion, stepped up a gear after the break, but Benzema was often found wanting in both pace and precision.
In fact, it took exactly 60 minutes for the French to create a clear chance, when an inviting cross from Franck Ribery was headed just over the crossbar by Mathieu Debuchy.
Shortly after the hour mark, Blanc replaced Florent Malouda and Debuchy with Nasri and Jeremy Menez. Del Bosque responded by bringing on Pedro Rodriguez for Silva and later Torres for Fabregas.
Despite the changes, Ribery continued to be France’s only danger man, for instance by providing an inviting, low-flying cross for Menez in 70th, which Iker Casillas skillfully blocked.
Still, Spain never really looked like they were about to lose yesterday’s match, and made it 2-0 in the final minute with a well-taken penalty from Xabi Alonso.
“Spain were beatable. We ran a lot and had a few chances. Unfortunately they converted their first chance,” Blanc later said.
 It will now be Portugal’s turn to try and provide some serious opposition to the Spaniard’s ambitions of retaining the European title.