Fabregas stepped up for penalty

Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas said he wanted to take the final penalty against Portugal to send his side through to Sunday’s Euro 2012 final.

A goalless 120 minutes against the Portuguese in the last-four clash was followed by a tense shoot-out, and Bruno Alves’ miss allowed the former Arsenal captain to stroke home the winning spot-kick.

And the 25-year-old stated that he always felt the tie would be decided on penalties, and that he replicated the technique he used when scoring against Italy in the Euro 2008 quarter-final shoot-out.

“The truth is that this (method) has worked a lot, and I had a feeling that (Wednesday) evening’s game would go to penalties,” he told a press conference.

“I was given the second penalty, but I asked to be fifth. I wanted life to give me this opportunity. I told the ball not to let me down.

“I’m very excited to reach another final in four years, it’s a real feat of history.”

Spain were widely criticised for their performance against France in the quarter-final, and Fabregas went on to say that his team put in a much-improved performance against their Iberian neighbours.

“The other day we were not good, and now we’re winning the supporters back. We have to repeat history. We have become much better; we controlled the game in extra time,” he said.

Spain will discover their opponents for the final after Thursday’s match between Germany and Italy.