Spain take semi-final place with pens win

By Paul Radford

VIENNA (Reuters) - Spain overcame a bizarre penalty shootout jinx to beat Latin rivals Italy on Sunday, reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2008 after a defence-dominated match which lacked the flair of the rest of the tournament.

Spain's hero was goalkeeper Iker Casillas who saved two spot kicks from Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale as his team won the shootout 4-2 after the match had ended 0-0 after extra time.

Spain, who will now play Russia in the semi-finals in the Austrian capital on Thursday, might have feared the worst when the match went into extra time -- because they have been ousted in a shootout three times before on June 22.

The first was against Belgium in the 1986 World Cup, the second against England at Euro 96 and the third when they played South Korea in the 2002 World Cup -- all, coincidentally, in the quarter-finals.

The Spanish, who won this event in 1964, had never previously beaten Italy from five matches in the finals of either the European Championship or World Cup, a run going back to 1934.

Their win also gave them their first major tournament semi-final place in 24 years -- they finished runners-up to France in the 1984 European Championship -- but have consistently under-performed when it really matters.

It was the third consecutive quarter-final at Euro 2008 to go into extra time and the second of them to finish in a shootout.

SERIOUS THREAT

The first semi-final between Germany and Turkey will be played in Basel on Wednesday with the winner going into the final next Sunday in Vienna against Russia or Spain.

Spain trounced Russia 4-1 in their opening group match but Guus Hiddink's team should present a far more serious threat on Thursday after rebuilding their confidence with a run of three increasingly impressive wins since then.

Meanwhile, Turkey, the comeback kings of the tournament after coming from behind with late goals before winning their last three games, received more bad news on Sunday when striker Nihat Kahveci withdrew from the squad with a thigh injury.

Turkey have four players suspended for the semi-final already and injuries have further reduced coach Fatih Terim's ability to put out a team.

Terim has only 13 fit outfield players and might have to use third choice goalkeeper Tolga Zengin as a possible outfield substitute.

The Spain-Italy match drew thousands of Mediterranean soccer fans to Vienna but the match lacked flair or sparkle with Italy intent on defence and Spain, though more adventurous, failing to find many openings.

Spain finally won, despite substitute Daniel Guiza missing the fourth spot kick, when Cesc Fabregas converted the fifth and final one to give his team an unbeatable 4-2 advantage.