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Spain set sights on fearsome France

Ignacio Quereda has vowed that Spain will take on France with "the same enthusiasm and competitiveness" that did for England when the Group C duo compete for an early last-eight spot.

Ignacio Quereda hopes Spain can build on their winning start
Ignacio Quereda hopes Spain can build on their winning start ©Getty Images

Ignacio Quereda wants Spain to play with "the same enthusiasm and competitiveness" that accounted for England when his charges compete with France for the opportunity to seal a UEFA Women's EURO 2013 quarter-final spot on Monday.

Spain edged a thrilling 3-2 win against Hope Powell's troops in their opener on Friday and know that a victory in Norrkoping will take them into the knockout stages with a game to spare. Group C rivals France will also be through if they prevail, having defeated Russia 3-1 last time out, but Bruno Bini warned that his side must remain humble as they are "champions of nothing for the moment".

Ignacio Quereda, Spain coach
We expect a tough game, and an even one. We'll have to fight from the beginning to the end. We know enough about France. We played against them several times. We respect France a lot, but we will fight to win the match. We have to stop the whole team in general [rather than any one player]. We must be faithful to our philosophy and our concept of football and exploit our strengths to the fullest, staying focused for 90 minutes.

It was no surprise to get a positive result against England. We did it, and that was our intention. We have to approach this game with the same enthusiasm and competitiveness. We'll go into our remaining games in the group stage with that ambition. Against France, we'll continue with the same focus and desire to compete and unbalance our opponents by using the weapons at our disposal.

I still don't know who's going to play. Once the training session is over, I'll look at all the players and take a decision on Monday. I don't know if I'll make any changes for the next match.

Matchday one result
England 2-3 Spain (Aluko 8, Bassett 89; Verónica Boquete 5, Hermoso 86, Putellas 90+3)
Tirapu; Torrejón, Paredes, R García, Ibarra; Sonia (Putellas 73), Meseguer, Calderón (Losada 61), Adriana; Hermoso, Boquete.

• Player of the match: Jennifer Hermoso

• Spain sprung a notable upset in Linkoping as substitute Alexia Putellas' 93rd-minute header deflected in off England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley to finally settle a thrilling match. Before that, England thought they had claimed a share of the spoils when Laura Bassett struck an 89th-minute equaliser to cancel out Hermoso's effort three minutes earlier, Eniola Aluko having responded to Verónica Boquete in an equally frenetic start.

Team news
"All the players have recovered and are at our disposal," said Quereda, pleased to announce a fully fit squad.

• On a booking: Irene Paredes, Nagore Calderón

Bruno Bini, France coach
There are many keys [to winning the game] – but we'll keep them to ourselves. Like every team, France wants to win this competition. We're here to win, here to play. We play every game to win – like every team, every coach, every player. Our morale is very good.

We have a lot of respect for this Spain team, who are doing great things. We already saw [their quality] in qualifying when they drew against Germany, and they played a great game [against England]. We have our weapons and they have theirs. It'll be decided on the big rectangle. They're a team who play good football, and they're well organised. We always have respect for our next opponents.

There are always things to correct – every team, every match. Even the world champions have things to correct and seeing as we're the champions of nothing for the moment, we have things to correct as well. We'll continue with lots of humility to work and work and work.

I know [Verónica] Boquete is a fan of [Louisa] Necib. When we came to Sweden, I gave her a Necib shirt and she was delighted.

Matchday one result
France 3-1 Russia (Delie 21 32, Le Sommer 67; Morozova 84)
Bouhaddi; Franco, Georges, Renard, Boulleau; Bussaglia, Soubeyrand (Catala 76), Le Sommer, Abily, Thiney (Necib 66); Delie (Thomis 61).

• Player of the match: Eugénie Le Sommer

• France registered the first victory at UEFA Women's EURO 2013 after a run of four consecutive draws with a convincing display in Norrkoping, Marie-Laure Delie scoring a pair of first-half goals and Le Sommer adding a third after the break. The only negative for Les Bleues was a late Elena Morozova consolation as the team's focus slipped.

Team news
Bini has revealed that "the 23 players in the squad are fit to start," meaning Amandine Henry has recovered quicker than expected from her thigh injury. As for Louisa Necib, she went into the Russia match recovering from a hip problem and came off the bench after 66 minutes.

Match fact
• France have not lost to Spain in nine previous meetings, winning six and drawing three, while scoring 15 goals to Spain's seven. Five of the matches were competitive, France winning three.

Did you know?
• Spain are the only one of the 2013 finalists not to have competed in Finland four years ago. Their only previous qualification was in 1997 when they reached the semi-finals. However, their Women's U17s (2010 and 2011) and U19s (2004) have both won European titles and this is the only UEFA national-team competition (including men, women, youth and futsal) Spain have never won.