Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fabregas stepped up for penalty

Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas said he wanted to take the final penalty against Portugal to send his side through to Sunday’s Euro 2012 final.

A goalless 120 minutes against the Portuguese in the last-four clash was followed by a tense shoot-out, and Bruno Alves’ miss allowed the former Arsenal captain to stroke home the winning spot-kick.

And the 25-year-old stated that he always felt the tie would be decided on penalties, and that he replicated the technique he used when scoring against Italy in the Euro 2008 quarter-final shoot-out.

“The truth is that this (method) has worked a lot, and I had a feeling that (Wednesday) evening’s game would go to penalties,” he told a press conference.

“I was given the second penalty, but I asked to be fifth. I wanted life to give me this opportunity. I told the ball not to let me down.

“I’m very excited to reach another final in four years, it’s a real feat of history.”

Spain were widely criticised for their performance against France in the quarter-final, and Fabregas went on to say that his team put in a much-improved performance against their Iberian neighbours.

“The other day we were not good, and now we’re winning the supporters back. We have to repeat history. We have become much better; we controlled the game in extra time,” he said.

Spain will discover their opponents for the final after Thursday’s match between Germany and Italy.

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