The agony and ecstasy as Spain beats Portugal on penalties

Jubilant Spanish football fans back home in Madrid celebrate their team’s victory over Portugal after a dramatic penalty shootout.

For those lucky enough to have been at the match in Donetsk it was a case of agony and ecstasy depending on which team you were supporting.
For the Spanish, they were delighted that the dream of retaining their European title was now just one match away.

“We rather prefer Germany,” said one Spanish fan. “It’s because technically I think we are better than them. And above all because if Mrs Merkel cuts us off economically, we wil cut them off in the pitch.”

A Portugal fan tried to be stoical in defeat: “I’m not too sad because the Portuguese team played very well. In my opinion we were a little better than Spain, but at the end we ran out of strength and it was down to luck that dictated the final score.”

So for some fans if they have tickets it’s a trip to Kiev and the final on Sunday, for others it is a long trip home with time enough to reflect on what might have been.

Reporting for euronews in Ukraine, Sergio Cantone said: “Spain are through to the final much to the joy of Spanish and local supporters. There they’ll play Germany or Italy. Actually some of the Spanish have said they they hope it will be against Italy, one wonders why?”

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