Before this Euro 2012 quarter-final, Spain had never beaten France in a competitive match.
But France made more of the errors that plagued their performance in the match against Sweden. And Spain, naturally, punished the French.
Only 19 minutes passed before Malouda stopped paying attention, and Iniesta found Alba on the left-hand side, the latter crossed the ball perfectly, and Xabi Alonso headed an unstoppable strike past Lloris.
And then Spain did very well to control the ball, thereby limiting the French attacks to whatever could come from flashes of individual brilliance.
But Benzema, the attacker that the French were hoping could unsettle the Spanish, was extremely weak in this match. He was never able to wrong-foot the opposing defense.
Ribery was slightly better, but he only got about one or two half-chances in the entire match.
The best French occasions came from Cabaye, following a long-distance free kick, in the first half, and Debuchy, with a header, early in the second half.
(And none of these two guys are forwards.)
Nasri came on late in the game, but he was as good as absent.
The best substitution in this match was performed by Vicente del Bosque.
He put in Pedro Rodriguez, and the Barcelona player succeeded in getting a penalty kick, in injury time, after being fouled by Reveillere.
On his 100th appearance for Spain, Alonso was allowed to take the spot kick, and he scored his fifteenth for the national team. 2-0 for Spain, in the 91st, and everybody watching knew that there was no way back for the French, with 3 minutes left.
Spain will meet Portugal, on Wednesday, in the first semifinal. And the Spanish will be playing in Donetsk, again.
Highlights:
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