Spain ousts Portugal, reaches Euro final

Spain again failed to dazzle at the European Championship on Wednesday yet still advanced to its third straight major tournament final, beating Portugal 4-2 in a penalty shootout following a scoreless draw after extra time.

“We’re playing better in defense than what the characteristics of our players would suggest,” Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said. “That’s what earns victories.”

After earning plaudits for the eye-catching passing that helped Spain win titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, this year’s team is struggling to create scoring chances. Against Portugal, the defending champions managed only one quality shot in regulation time.

It didn’t matter, though, because the Spanish still came through when it mattered. Cesc Fabregas, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored the deciding penalty kick after Portugal’s Bruno Alves hit the crossbar moments earlier.

“I played poorly, but the team worked really hard,” Fabregas said. “I had this intuition that we could advance if we went to penalties and that’s what we did.”

Spain will next face either Germany or Italy on Sunday in Kiev, Ukraine.

“Being in another final is a miracle,” Fabregas said. “It’s really incredible.”

Cristiano Ronaldo had several chances for Portugal, but he sent three shots over the crossbar as his team held its own for the entire match. The Real Madrid star, who came alive with three goals in his last two matches at the tournament, did not take a penalty in the shootout.

“Our players trained and were prepared for a situation like this,” Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. “We didn’t have much luck.”

Ronaldo asked to be the last to go, potentially as the match-winner for a third straight game at Euro 2012, but it never got that far.

“It’s just a question that I speak with the coach and he said to me, ‘You want a kick?’ and I said, ‘Yes, in the fifth,’ ” Ronaldo told reporters. “We missed two penalties so it’s frustration.”

After an often dour opening 90 minutes, the match livened up in the 30 minutes of extra time.

Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta forced Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio into a superb save in the 103rd minute. Iniesta drifted into the penalty area, then held his head in disbelief as Patricio reacted to get a strong hand on his shot after Jordi Alba cut the ball back toward the penalty spot.

Patricio also denied substitute Jesus Navas in the 111th minute.

“Both teams were stronger in defense in the first 90 minutes, but that balance was broken in extra time,” del Bosque said.

In the shootout, Xabi Alonso had the first attempt saved by Patricio before Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas stopped Joao Moutinho’s shot. Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos then scored for Spain – Ramos on an audacious soft chip – while Pepe and Nani answered for Portugal.

“The first one wasn’t so lucky, and then we scored the rest of them,” Casillas said. “Yes, we really were lucky. Everything is about luck sometimes.”