Camacho bitter at defeat

It was a great night for the French

Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho was bitterly disappointed after seeing his side eliminated from Euro 2000 by France.

Young striker Raul had the chance to extend the game into extra-time, but he missed a penalty in the final minute of the game to allow the World Champions to progress into the semi-finals courtesy of a 2-1 victory.

Although the game appeared to be an even contest, Camacho believed that his side's second half endeavour deserved more.

"We tried to win but we couldn't do it and now we're going home," said Camacho.

"No, it wasn't a fair result but we have to accept it. It was down to a lot of things, not only the penalty.

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"We have done our best but what else could we do?"

France coach Roger Lemerre looked forward to the semi-final against Portugal and declared that it would be "a great confrontation".

"I have great respect for the talents of our Portuguese friends like Luis Figo but we will try to block their qualities," said the coach.

"Both teams had the same excellent technical qualities and both had outstanding players like Zidane and Raul.

"I congratulate the Spanish for the quality of their opposition but we had players capable of making the difference - and one of them was Zidane."