Euro Cup 2012 (SF): Spain vs Portugal - As it happened

Zeenews Sports Bureau

Portugal bowed out of Euro 2012 Championships after a 2-4 loss against defending champions Spain in the first semi-final on Wednesday. Match in Pics» I Match Report» It was yet again Cesc Fabregas who stepped up to score the decisive penalty to take Spain to their third consecutive major final at the Donbass Arena.

SPAIN: X 0 0 0 0

Alonso walks in for the first spot-kick, MISSES SAVED by Patrício, Alonso goes full blood towards left bottom Patrício saves. Iniesta, SCORES. Pique, SCORES Sergio Ramo, SCORES with a chip. Fàbregas, to finish it, SCORES, AND SPAIN ARE INTO THE FINAL.

PORTUGAL: X 0 0 X

Moutinho for Portugal, and MISSES, saved by Casillas, right bottom. Pepe SCORES Nani, top right corner , SCORES Bruno Alves, MISSES, hits the top bar. This could be the end of Portugal.

SHOOT-OUT BECKONS

The game enters penalties to decide the winner after extra-time ended goalless. 114 min (ET): Pedro surged towards Portuguese goal but Alves intervened to clear it away from danger just in front of the goal. 114 min (ET): Xabi booked for a challenge on Ronaldo. 113 min (ET): Varela (Portugal) in for Meireles. 106 min (ET): Less than 15 mins left but both the teams still goalless. 105+1 min (ET): Half time 104 min (ET): Iniesta close to scoring but brilliant Patrício punched it away. After a fine interplay by Spain, Alba cut it to Iniesta in the middle, who aimed it at the target. But makes a fine save. 102 min (ET): Spanish corner but failed to make any impact. 99 min (ET): Pedro lying injured on the shoulder after a challenge by Pepe. He looks fine now. 95 min (ET): Moutinho penalised for a challenge. Xabi takes the free kick but headed away by Ronaldo. Both Portugal and Spain failed to score after 90 minutes of the game. The match now enters extra time. 92 min:Spain failed to score through a corner. 91 min: Good sliding effort from Coentrão thwarted Fabregas effort near Portugal box. 90 min: Ronaldo misses target again. 3 minutes of added time. 87 min: Match poised to go to extra time despite Spain's last-ditch efforts. Xavi is replaced by Pedro Rodríguez. 84 min: Free kick for Portugal after Xabi's challenge on Ronaldo, who charged towards the opposition goal from the left. Ronaldo takes the kick, but hits the wall. Gets another free kick for a handball by Arbeloa. He misses the target again. 81 min: Nélson Oliveira in for Hugo Almeida for Portugal. 77 min: Spain resorting on long range efforts towards goal as they are desperate not to take it to extra time. 71 min: Ronaldo wins a free kick for Portugal in front of the box. Arbeloa (Spain) stood in front of a racing Ronaldo. Ronaldo takes the kick. But misses the target by a whisker, shoots over the bar. 70 min: Spain very well in control of the game but yet to capitalise on it. 67 min: Xavi went for the goal but was denied by Patrício. 65 min: Pereira booked for a challenge on Fabregas. Xavi took the free kick at the edge of the box but headed clear for a corner to the right. 63 min: Portugal pressing hard for a goal. 61 min: Pepe shown yellow for an aerial challenge on Ramos. 60 min: Navas replaces Silva. 58 min: One-two between Ronaldo and Almeida all but couldn't find a goal. Almeida shot wide. 56 min: Corner in favour of Portugal. Ronaldo collected a long range pass from Moutinho up on the left, who passed it on to Coentrão. 54 min: Fabregas replaces Negredo. 49 min: Bruno Alves (Portugal) concedes a free-kick for a foul on Negredo (Spain) inside Spain's half. Jeering from crowd for Spain's passing game. 47 min: No teams made any changes during the interval. The second half is under way. The scoreline read 0-0 at the end of the first half with Portugal showing more aggression up front. Both teams showed some qaulity football but is yet to see any worthy attempts on target. 45 min: 1 minute of added time. 44 min: Both the teams yet to find the back of the net. 41 min: Things aren't working for Spain tonight. They are giving away possession too soon. Free kick for Portugal. 40 min: First yellow of the night. Ramos penalised for a challenge on Ronaldo. 38 min: Spain missed another scoring chance. 37 min: Bruno Alves penalised for a foul on Negredo (Spain). 31 min: Ronaldo wins the ball from Jordi Alba but shot wide with his left foot. 29 min: Iniesta misses target. Alonso stretches a long pass to Negredo, who pulls it back to to Xavi Hernández. Xavi crosses it to Iniesta, who fires just over. 26 min: Portugal dispossess Spain high up. Spain dealt the with the pressure well and cleared off danger. 23 min: Ronaldo shot high up in the air after he was fed beautifully in the middle. 22 min: Porugal defending well denying every Spain attempt to score. 19 min: Terrific battle on the field. Nani appeals for a free kick but is turned down by referee. 17 min: Corner for Portugal from the right but is headed clear. 15 min: Arbeloa penalised for a foul on Fábio Coentrão conceded a free kick near the Portuguese area. 12 min: Ronaldo's first attempt of the night. Rushed past the defenders through the left. Good cross to the middle but was denied by Iker. 10 min: Coentrão attack stopped by Xavi with a sliding effort on the left. 9 min: Arbeloa (Spain) missed a big chance of the night after shot over the bar from close range. 8 min: Free kick after a Raul foul. 6 min: Pepe conceded a throw in while thwarting a Spanish surge through the left. 5 min: Possession with Portugal right now. 2 min: First corner of the night. Positive start for the Portuguese. Iker punched away the corner kick from the right. Conceded another. 1 min: All eyes on Cristiano Ronaldo as the game between Spain and Portugal is underway. Portugal, Spain players lined up for national anthem. Donetsk: It is the first semi-final of the 2012 Euro Championships and we welcome readers from all over the globe to our Live Coverage of the event. For Spain, neither Torres nor Fabregas got the nod to start instead Del Bosque decided to go ahead with Álvaro Negredo. Hugo Almeida found a place in the Portuguese squad after Hélder Postiga picked up a thigh injury in the match against Czech Republic. Check out the line-up: Spain: Casillas, Piqué, Ramos, Arbeloa, Alba, Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, Busquets, Silva, Negredo SUBS: Valdés, Reina, Albiol, Martínez, Juanfran, Fàbregas, Cazorla, Navas, Pedro Rodríguez, Torres, Mata, Llorente. Portugal: Patrício, Alves, Pepe, Coentrão, Pereira, Veloso, Moutinho, Meireles, Nani, Ronaldo, Almeida SUBS: Eduardo, Beto, Costa, Rolando, Lopes, Custódio, Quaresma, Micael, Viana, Oliveira, Varela, Postiga.