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Spain became only the second team to reach the final of three successive major tournaments when defeating Portugal 4-2 on penalties in Donetsk after their Euro 2012 semi-final ended goalless after extra-time.

Where West Germany failed in 1976, Spain now have the chance to become the first team to retain their European title, and win three international tournaments in succession, after Cesc Fabregas slotted the ball home from 12 yards to punish Portugal's Bruno Alves, whose penalty had struck the bar.

Rui Patricio and Iker Casillas had saved the two opening penalties from Xabi Alonso and Joao Moutinho before Alves, who had originally attempted to take the third spot kick before being sent back by Nani, hit the woodwork after Sergio Ramos had emulated Andrea Pirlo by executing a perfect Panenka.

Cristiano Ronaldo, held back for the fifth spot kick that never came, could only look on helplessly as Fabregas put Spain through - just as the midfielder did when winning the Euro 2008 quarter-final shoot-out against Italy that set Spain on course for a spell of international domination that may prove to be the most complete football has seen.

Now only Germany or Italy stand between Spain and footballing immortality, even if they will have to improve on a performance at Donbass Arena that was rather unconvincing for large swathes of normal time.

Having flitted between a false nine in Fabregas and a slightly less false nine in Fernando Torres throughout the tournament so far, Del Bosque’s team selection proved contentious as he gave a first start at Euro 2012 to Alvaro Negredo, the Sevilla striker who only three years ago was a target for Phil Brown at Hull City.

Portugal’s only change was an enforced one as Hugo Almeida came in for the injured Helder Postiga, with Paulo Bento going toe-to-toe with Spain in an expansive 4-3-3 formation. Having shunned the temptation to adopt a defensive strategy in the face of Spain’s daunting arsenal, as France regrettably did in the quarter-finals, Portugal were rewarded with an excellent first-half performance.

Pressing with an intensity that is usually the hallmark of their Iberian neighbours, unafraid to be ambitious when on the ball and full of dangerous intent on the break, Portugal looked keen to prove that not every game involving Spain has to follow the same narrative of suffocating possession from the team in red – a narrative that has led many to label Spain, somewhat unfairly, as boring.

Instead it was an even contest in Donetsk, even if Spain took the early initiative. The first clear chance fell to Alvaro Arbeloa after the ball rolled into the path of the defender when a pass from Andres Iniesta was not controlled by Negredo. Hitting the ball first time, his effort flew over the bar.

Iniesta then fired a shot over from range as Spain threatened to take control, but Portugal’s up-tempo approach denied them the chance to settle and Ronaldo quickly demonstrated the threat he possesses when racing clear on the left and whipping in an excellent cross that Casillas plucked out of the air before it reached Nani at the back post.

Portugal’s commendably proactive approach was personified by the figure of Moutinho in midfield, as he pressed with enthusiasm without the ball and was always positive when in possession. Moutinho found Ronaldo with one clever backheel, allowing the forward to thump a volley over the bar, and then robbed Jordi Alba before playing in Ronaldo again, Portugal’s captain hitting his low shot just wide.

Spain were possibly feeling the effects of having two days’ fewer rest than their opponents as they uncharacteristically wasted possession on a number of occasions, and the decision to start Negredo had clearly disrupted the dynamic of their attack, but they still carved out of the best chance of the first half when Iniesta’s first touch from a Xavi pass gave him space in the box and the midfielder opened up his body to curl a shot narrowly over.

The second half was only seven minutes old when Del Bosque abandoned his curious experiment with Negredo, the striker having completed only eight passes all match. Instead of calling on Torres though, he ordered Fabregas to strip off and reinstated the 4-6-0 formation that places the Barcelona midfielder at the apex of the Spain attack.

The plan was to exert more mastery on the ball and pull Portugal’s defence apart in a more subtle fashion. Meanwhile, for Portugal, Almeida opted for a rather more rudimentary approach, hammering two poor efforts off target when instead he should have looked for a team-mate in a position more conducive to testing Casillas.

Spain still lacked penetration though and David Silva was replaced on 60 minutes after an uncharacteristically quiet night, the Manchester City midfielder being replaced by Jesus Navas, more of a natural winger on the right of la Roja’s attack and the scorer of the late winner in the final group game against Croatia.

In a game that resolutely refused to catch fire, Xavi tested Patricio with a firm drive from 25 yards while Ronaldo – a much more peripheral figure than in his previous matches against Netherlands and Czech Republic, and failing to score in three consecutive games again for his country – saw a trademark free-kick fly just over the bar. Another missed the target with five minutes remaining.

As the seconds ticked by, Portugal suddenly had a fantastic opportunity to win the game when hitting Spain on the break following a free-kick in the final third for their opponents. Raul Meireles took the ball through the centre and only had to slip in Ronaldo. However, he weighted the pass poorly and the captain shot wide, ensuring a poor match that had featured just two shots on target would be extended by 30 minutes.

Portugal retreated into their shell in the extra period as they began to suffer from fatigue, allowing Spain to gain control of the match. Indeed, they should have won the game in extra-time and only a tremendous save from Patricio prevented them from taking the lead after 104 minutes. Alba did superbly well to wriggle his way into space in the box and pulled the ball back for Iniesta, whose first-time effort was palmed clear by the Portugal keeper.

In what had become a rather cynical contest – with all of the Portugal back four on a booking – Pepe began to lose his head and committed a couple of dirty fouls as well as slyly kicking out at Pedro. One foul conceded by the Real Madrid defender allowed Ramos to hammer a wonderful free-kick just past the woodwork.

Patricio was alert again in the second period of extra-time when he flung himself low to his right to repel a low shot from Navas, but was somewhat fortunate not to concede an indirect free-kick after Pepe touched the loose ball back into his gloves.

Spain looked keen to avoid penalties and spurned a wonderful opportunity to win the game with just five minutes remaining. Fabregas touched the ball round the corner to Pedro but the Barcelona forward got the ball stuck under his feet as he threatened to burst clear on goal and had to check right, allowing Coentrao to come across and make a crucial interception.

But though Portugal held out for 120 minutes, they could not depose Spain on penalties with Del Bosque’s side now just one match away from becoming the greatest international team in the history of the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third goal of Euro 2012 to give Portugal a merited 1-0 win over a sterile Czech Republic side who paid the price for parking the bus in their quarter-final at Warsaw's Stadion Narodowy.

The Real Madrid forward followed on from scoring twice in a 2-1 win over the Netherlands in the group stages by arriving late in the box to head into the ground and over goalkeeper Petr Cech from Joao Moutinho's cross on 79 minutes. He has now netted 10 goals from qualifying and these finals in dragging his country to the last four.

The result was never really in doubt against a Czech side who somehow won Group A, but failed to manage a shot on goal all night and seemed paralysed without injured Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky in their ranks.

Portugal - unchanged from their three matches in finishing second behind Germany in Group B - will face world and European champions Spain or France for a place in the final. They must have a real chance to claim the trophy with Ronaldo hungry, elusive and suddenly replicating the level of form that he brings to Spanish La Liga winners Real.

Czech manager Michal Bílek vowed to be defensive to avoid a repeat of the 4-1 mauling they received from Russia in the opening game of the tournament, but nobody could have imagined they would be so negative.

Portugal could easily have won by three or four goals, but only a combination of sloppy finishing and agile goalkeeping by Cech kept the Czechs in the match until late in the contest.

Portugal came up with 20 efforts at goal with Ronaldo twice hitting the post before he scored. He turned and buried a shot against Cech's left-hand upright late in the first period while another free-kick from 30 yards was sent spitting beyond Cech only to brush the outside of a post.

The longer this mismatch staggered on, more chances fell around the Czech Republic goal. Bilek's men were either unable or unwilling to lay a glove on their opponents, who were well served by Nani and the busy Moutinho as they camped out in the opposition half in the second period.

Ronaldo saw an overhead kick fly wide on 30 minutes before substitute Hugo Almeida headed over a couple of minutes after half-time to illustrate how the second half was going to work out for the Czechs.

Cech made fine stops from Nani and Moutinho with less than 30 minutes left with Nani seeing a shot deflect over the bar. Almeida also had the ball in the net, but was deemed to be offside while he headed over again from close range to suggest his arrival to replace the injured Helder Postiga was not a roaring success. Postiga may be finished for the finals having been forced off with a hamstring strain.

For the record, Joao Pereira had a shot at goal nudged wide by Cech with eight minutes left, but Portugal were convincing winners with their one goal.

Ronaldo has now scored six goals at Euro finals, the joint-most of any Portuguese player, along with Nuno Gomes. Watched by former Portuguese greats Eusebio and Luis Figo, Ronaldo can take his place as one of the game's most feted players if he can inspire Portugal to carry off the tournament.

He seems to be on the right path.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal booked their Euro 2012 quarter-final place with a 2-1 win against Netherlands in Kharkiv.

The Portuguese captain defied criticism of his performances with a magnificent display to secure second place in Group B and a last-eight meeting with the Czech Republic.

The Dutch suffered a third defeat in as many games, wilting after Rafael van der Vaart opened the scoring with a superb goal on 11 minutes.

Thereafter Portugal - in particular Ronaldo - ran riot. The Real Madrid forward scored on 28 and 74 minutes, and struck the woodwork twice for good measure.

He has now scored in three European Championship finals, and made amends for his wayward shooting against Germany and Denmark.

Knowing his team had to win by at least two goals to have any chance of going through, Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk bowed to public pressure by bringing Van der Vaart and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar into an attacking formation.

He sacrificed skipper Mark van Bommel and Ibrahim Afellay, while Ron Vlaar replaced Johnny Heitinga at the back.

The change appeared to pay immediate dividends, as the Dutch tore into their opponents from the off, with Robin van Persie operating as a deep striker behind Huntelaar, and Van der Vaart even deeper in central midfield.

And it was Van der Vaart, wearing the captain's armband, who broke the deadlock with a peach of a strike, taking Arjen Robben's lay-off and curling a 20-yard shot into the left corner of Rui Patricio's net.

That goal sent Denmark through on the 'as it stands' table, though Portugal were soon back in second place when Germany took the lead against the Danes in Lviv. The table changed again when Denmark equalised, but back in Kharkiv Portugal had started to dominate.

The flipside of Van Marwijk's attacking formation was that his side looked extremely porous in midfield, and Portugal flowed through them with ease.

Ronaldo hit the outside of the post, before Helder Postiga missed a one-on-one following a terrible Gregory van der Wiel backpass.

Ronaldo went close again with a header Maarten Stekelenburg clawed to safety, but he was not to be denied.

On 28 minutes sloppy play from the Jetro Willems gave Joao Pereira possession, and the Portugal right-back slid Ronaldo through with one of the passes of the tournament - and the Portugal captain found the net at last.

Holland, clad all in black, could not stem the red tide. Nani struck a low shot just wide, before Ronaldo stung Stekelenburg's hands with a long-range effort.

The second half brought a slight tactical shift from the Dutch, with Wesley Sneijder taking a more central role, but Van Marwijk did nothing to address the lack of bite in midfield.

The otherwise wasteful Postiga had the ball in the net on the hour mark when he turned in a Ronaldo shot, but his effort was rightly ruled out for offside.

Portugal continued to dominate, and were particularly potent on the counter-attack. On 66 minutes Ronaldo teed up his club-mate Fabio Coentrao, who brought a fine diving save from Stekelenburg.

Van Marwijk responded by removing a defender and bringing on Ibrahim Afellay - succeeding only in making his side more vulnerable on the break.

Shortly afterwards, Ronaldo teed up Nani, whose close range shot brought a brilliant save from Stekelenburg - but a more precise finish would have given the goalkeeper no chance.

There was no reprieve two minutes later, when roles were reversed and Nani supplied Ronaldo, who cut inside Van der Wiel and picked out the bottom-left corner.

That goal sparked an on-pitch row between Van der Vaart and Robben as the fractious Dutch saw their tournament definitively ended.

Van der Vaart at least hit the post with a curling right-foot effort, before the out-of-sorts Van Persie missed a clear opportunity.

There was still time for Ronaldo to crack a left-foot shot against the base of the right upright at the end of a thoroughly impressive performance.

Three games, three defeats. So ends a desperate tournament for the Netherlands.

Silvestre Varela kept Portugal's Euro 2012 hopes alive with a late goal in a 3-2 win over Group B rivals Denmark in Lviv.

Sunderland forward Nicklas Bendtner scored twice (41,80) as Morten Olsen's side recovered from falling 2-0 behind to Pepe's headed opener on 24 minutes and a Helder Postiga finish from inside the Danish area on 36 minutes.

Despite Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo missing a couple of obvious chances, substitute Varela sealed the three points for Portugal - their first win of the year after a series of indifferent results in friendies - when he walloped a blistering shot into the corner of the net at the second attempt from Fabio Coentrao's delightful pass.

Portugal were worth their win on the night. They join Denmark and Germany on three points with Germany due to face the Netherlands later on Wednesday.

Denmark upset the Dutch 1-0 on Saturday to leave the group delicately poised before the final round of games.

Portugal are the only country to have taken part in at least one group phase at the European Championships without ever going home before the quarter-finals.

They were at risk of falling out of the tournament if they lost this match and Germany drew with the Dutch, but eased their nerves by moving ahead on 24 minutes when Real Madrid defender Pepe rose to power home a header from Joao Moutinho's corner.

They doubled their lead 12 minutes later as Postiga swept the ball high into the Danish goal beyond keeper Stephan Andersen from Nani's delicious pass.

With coach Morten Olsen frantically scribbling down notes, Denmark looked to be heading for a drubbing until they reduced the deficit almost out of nothing four minutes before half-time.

Substitute Jacob Poulsen picked out Michael Krohn-Dehli - scorer of the winner against the Netherlands - deep in the opposition area and he headed back across goal for Bendtner to nod into the unguarded net.

It was his 19th goal in his 50th match for Denmark and a fifth goal in five games against Portugal for the former Arsenal man.

Ronaldo should have put his country 3-1 clear on 51 minutes when he raced in on goal only to fluff his lines as his shot lacked the necessary pace to beat Andersen.

He then looked to have paid the ultimate price when he bounded onto Nani's ball only to slip the shot wide of goal on 78 minutes - Denmark went level three minutes later.

Lars Jacobsen threw over an inviting cross for Bendtner to net his sixth goal in five games against Portugal as his header hit the back of the net via Rui Patricio's glove and post.

It looked like Portugal would need results elsewhere to stay alive in the tournament, but their destiny is back in their own hands courtesy of Varela's winning goal.

Portugal know a win over the Netherlands on Sunday will be enough to secure their place in the last eight. Ronaldo will hope for better times.

Alongside Russia's Aleksandr Kerzhakov (11 shots) and Robin van Persie (eight shots), Ronaldo (10 shots) is in the top three forwards with most efforts at goal. All three have yet to score at the finals.

Mario Gomez gave Germany a narrow 1-0 win over Portugal in Group B after a wretched match at the Arena Lviv in Ukraine.

The match seemed destined to finish goalless with both sides reluctant to commit bodies forward, but Bayern Munich's Gomez settled the match in Germany's favour when he rose to head Sami Khedira's deflected cross beyond Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio on 72 minutes.

Portugal enjoyed their best moments of the match when they were forced to throw caution to the wind in the death throes of the match, but their defensive approach did not contribute to an appetising spectacle as men such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Helder Postiga were forced to live off scraps for most of the evening.

Germany will reach the last eight if they beat the Netherlands on Wednesday night. It should be a fascinating occasion with the Dutch needing to avoid defeat having lost 1-0 to Denmark in Kharkiv earlier in the day.

Portugal showed enough against Germany in the final 18 minutes to suggest they can beat Denmark on Wednesday but they would be better served to adopt a more positive outlook against Morten Olsen's side.

The first period was a non-event in terms of being an event as Lukas Podolski drove a shot into the arms of Patricio on eight minutes with Thomas Mueller screwing a effort wide seven minutes before half-time.

The best chance of the half fell to Portugal a minute before half-time as Pepe saw a header come back off the underside of the bar before bouncing to safety.

Portugal claimed for a goal, but replays showed it had not crossed the line.

Jerome Boateng was forced to make a fine tackle on Ronaldo as he prepared to shoot inside the Germany box on 64 minutes. Gomez struck eight minutes later to settle the matches moments before he was going to be replaced.

Watched by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, Portugal could have rescued a draw in the closing moments as Nani saw a cross clip the top of Germany's bar while Ronaldo's effort from distance was beaten out by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as it dipped and swerved in the air.

Neuer then spread himself superbly well to save from Varela after his fellow substitute Nelson Oliveira had shown some intelligence to play provider.

Portugal have never been eliminated from the group stage of the European Championships in five appearances. They at least know what is on the line before they confront Denmark.