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Spain and Uruguay will face Italy and Brazil in the semifinals.

Uruguay secured second place in Group B after beating Tahiti 8-0 on Sunday and will face Brazil in the semi-final on Wednesday (26) in Belo Horizonte; Spain, with wins in all three games played, will face Italy, second place in Group A, in Fortaleza on Thursday (27).

Spain and Uruguay will face Italy and Brazil in the semifinals.

Danilo Macedo
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Brasilia – The first phase of the Confederations Cup ended this Sunday (23) with Spain's 3-0 victory against Nigeria and Uruguay's 8-0 win over Tahiti. With these results, Uruguay secured second place in Group B and will face Brazil in the semi-final on Wednesday (26) in Belo Horizonte. Spain, with victories in all three games played, will face Italy, second place in Group A, in Fortaleza on Thursday (27).

With a goal from full-back Jordi Alba three minutes into the match, favorites Spain struggled against Nigeria until the 17th minute of the second half, when striker Fernando Torres, who had just entered the field, scored the second goal. The African team still had clear goal-scoring opportunities, but failed to convert, and almost at the end, in the 43rd minute of the second half, conceded a third goal.

Uruguay, needing only a simple victory if Spain beat Nigeria, went on the attack against Tahiti, a team with only one professional player, and scored eight goals, four in each half of the match.

The two teams that win the semi-final games will decide the Confederations Cup title next Sunday (30), at Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro. The third place match will take place on the same day in Salvador. In total, 58 goals were scored in the 12 games of the first phase, an average of 4,8 goals per game, the highest in the history of the competition, which began to be played in 1997.

Editing: Denise Griesinger