French striker Karim Benzema has said that he is extremely disappointed about having to face Spain in the quarter finals of the competition because he expected to face the Spanish in the final of the competition, according to the Arsenal news website.

France will be taking on Cesc Fabregas‘s Spain in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2012 knowing that the winner of the tie will be facing Portugal. Many are expecting France to come to the fore in this match because it has been a game that has always finished on the right side for French. France have not lost to Spain in the last seven matches, and Karim Benzema will be hoping that this record continues.

However, it did not turn out that way after France were defeated 2-0 on the night, which also marked their second consecutive defeat after going 22 matches unbeaten previously. Many have attributed it to the altercation within the players after the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden in the final group match. Karim Benzema has said that the French have left themselves to blame after the defeat at the hands of Sweden, which caused them to finish second in the group. If they had won the match, then they would have faced Italy in the quarter finals.

“It’s a disaster for the French and me personally. I wanted to play Spain but not at this stage of the tournament. I was dreaming of playing them in the final — not now. Our goal was always to qualify for the knockout stages and while that has been achieved we didn’t really expect to go into the last group game and perform so badly. We didn’t even turn up for the match so now we have to address the situation by facing the most dangerous side in this competition,” said Karim Benzema after the match.