DONETSK: France had a cunning plan to deny Spain but unfortunately it was ruined after less than 20 minutes and they lacked the sharpness to turn the situation around in their Euro 2012 quarter-final on Saturday.
Coach Laurent Blanc fielded two right backs with Anthony Reveillere in the defensive position and Mathieu Debuchy higher up the pitch to contain the threat of Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba.
But Iniesta broke down the wing to feed Alba and Xabi Alonso ran on to his cross to open the scoring with a downward header in the 19th minute. Alonso completed Spain’s win with a stoppage-time penalty.
“The plan was to reach halftime at 0-0,” Blanc told a news conference.
“We had analyzed the Spanish line-up well because they had two very strong players on the left but what is the most frustrating thing is that we conceded the goal from that side,” he added.
France were left chasing ghosts for the remainder of the game and failed to turn their very few chances into goals.
“What I regret is that we conceded the goal early in the game,” said Blanc.
“But let’s be realistic, Spain are a better team and tonight’s game proved it once again.”
France leave the tournament with one win, a draw and two defeats. Although they made it to the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time since the 2006 World Cup, they were never looked like beating Spain, one of the favorites. (Reuters)