HispanicBusiness

Cesc Fabregas bounced the clinching penalty kick off the left post Wednesday, giving Spain a semifinal victory over Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament.

The win puts Spain, ranked No. 1 in the world, into Sunday's title match against either Germany or Italy. The second semifinals is Thursday.

Spain, behind goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and Portugal, with Rui Patricio in goal, played 90 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute extra periods to a 0-0 draw and sent the match into penalty kicks.

Both keepers made strong saves on the first two tries but five straight players converted penalty kicks with Spain's Sergio Ramos doing a stutter-step delay kick over a diving Patricio for a 3-2 lead.

Portugal's Bruno Alves had his try go off the cross bar, giving Fabregas a chance to seal the final berth. He kicked left and Patricio dived that way but the ball went off the inside of the left post and into the back right side.

Spain will be looking to repeat as UEFA European champions. The Spaniards defeated Germany 1-0 for the 2008 title.