Viva España: Oyarzabal, pals shut down France

ARLINGTON – Spain ended Frnce’s dream of a third World Cup triumph on Tuesday, taming their star-studded attack in a 2-0 victory to reach the final against England or Argentina.

Didier Deschamps’ men were hot favorites to lift the trophy after a string of breathtaking attacking displays in the United States but they met their match against the slick European champions in the semifinals.

Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for the 2010 winners with an emphatic penalty in the first half in Arlington, Texas, and Pedro Porro doubled their lead in the second half.

Shell-shocked France could not find a way back into the match despite their wealth of attacking riches on a bitterly disappointing day for the two-time winners.

“We started almost four years ago with an idea and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

“These players deserve everything,” he added. “Day after day they’ve shown their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make the difficult look easy.”

Oyarzabal hammered the ball past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan for his fifth goal of the World Cup to leave France trailing for the first time in the tournament.

And Spain, which has conceded just once in the entire tournament, is the first team in World Cup history to keep six clean sheets at a single edition.