Arbeloa warns Spain of Benzema threat

Spain defender Alvaro Arbeloa has heaped praise on France forward Karim Benzema ahead of their Euro 2012 quarter-final meeting in Donetsk.

Benzema is yet to get off the mark in the tournament but Arbeloa feels that for all of France’s attacking options, the former Lyon forward is the principal threat to Spain’s chances of progressing to the last four on Saturday.

“They are a really balanced team with a lot of talent up front,” Arbeloa told EFE.

“Logically, a lot of the attention is on Benzema, (Franck) Ribery and, with the form he’s in, (Samir) Nasri. They’re game-changers.

“But at the moment Benzema’s the king of the jungle.

“Karim is one of the best players in the world today and the people who are lucky enough to see him every day are even more aware that nobody has his intelligence for the game.”