Spanish striker Fernando Torres has said that the national team should learn from the mistakes we have made in the past.
The Spanish team will be taking on France in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2012 knowing that the French have been able to avoid defeat against the Spanish in the last seven encounters between the two nations.
The most high-profile encounter between the two came in the 2006 World Cup when the two meet each other on the group stages. Back then, the French national team had the likes of the 35-year-old Zinedine Zidane, which was highly criticised by the Spanish media.
However, they were made to eat in their own words after the French defeated them 3-1 in the group stages, while also going to win the World Cup in the process. Fernando Torres has said that the Spanish national team should learn from this mistake and not be complacent against the French team that now features a lot of youngsters.
The French will be coming into the match after having recently lost their unbeaten run, which stretched to a record 22 matches. Laurent Blanc's men lost 2-0 in the final group match against Sweden, which has now made them play against Spain instead of Steven Gerrard's England.
"That day France taught us a good lesson which helped us to grow up as a team, even if only a few players remain from that time. We will hope that this time, our experience will tilt the balance of the game in our favour. France are a great side who perhaps didn't have their finest day against Sweden. We hope that against us they won't return to their best form, but if they do so we will be ready. These days, Spain, at its best, is very hard to beat," said Fernando Torres.