Spain eliminates Portugal on penalties

Cesc Fabregas scored the deciding penalty Wednesday to give Spain a 4-2 shootout win over Portugal and a spot in the European Championship final.

Fabregas, who came on as a substitute in the second half of regulation time, scored the deciding penalty after Bruno Alves had hit the crossbar for Portugal 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, which is trying to win a third straight major trophy after claiming titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, will next face either Germany or Italy on Sunday in Kiev.

''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 well over the bar 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 Euro 2012, did not take a penalty in the shootout. He had been slated to take the fifth one, but he never got that far.

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

After an often dour opening 90 minutes in which the Spanish failed to impress, the match livened up in the 30 minutes of extra time. Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta forced Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio into a superb reflex save in the 103rd minute. Iniesta ghosted into the penalty area, then held his head in disbelief as Rui Patricio reacted brilliantly to get a strong hand to his shot after Jordi Alba cut the ball back toward the penalty spot.

Rui Patricio made another fine save to deny substitute Jesus Navas in the 111th.

''Both teams were stronger in defense in the first 90 minutes, but that balance was broken in extra time,'' Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said.

Working as a unit, Portugal started to gain the upper hand midway through the first half. Moutinho flicked the ball into the path of Ronaldo, whose wild shot flew over.

''Everyone helped to control Ronaldo,'' Del Bosque said.

Working as a unit, Portugal started to gain the upper hand midway through the first half. Moutinho flicked the ball into the path of Ronaldo, whose wild shot flew over.

''Everyone helped to control Ronaldo,'' Del Bosque said.