Player profile

An excellent passer of the ball, Alonso has usurped the more robust Marcos Senna as Spain’s deep-lying midfielder in the last year, scoring two goals in four games at the Confederations Cup last summer, including the extra-time winner against hosts South Africa in the third-place play-off.

He featured from the outset in three matches at the 2006 World Cup while Andres Iniesta was still an emerging talent, but only made one start at Euro 2008.

The Real Madrid midfielder has continued to impress since his £30m return to Spain last summer after five years with Liverpool, where he won the Champions League and FA Cup - and £25,000 for one supporter who had placed a 125-1 bet after scoring from inside his own half during a cup win over Luton.

Eight months later, Alonso, who played gaelic football as a teenager when he spent a month in the Irish town of Kells to learn English, also scored with an audacious strike from 70 yards against Newcastle.