Spain's Puyol relieved to scrape through

Spain defender Carles Puyol was relieved to see his side scrape through to the quarter-finals after their penalty shoot-out win over Ireland.

‘‘We suffered a lot during the game, but everything’s okay when you win,’’ said the full-back, who supplied the cross for Fernando Morientes’ eighth-minute opening goal.

‘‘We were playing well and got the goal, we knew they were dangerous and that Niall Quinn would come on in the second half.’’

He joined the chorus of voices criticising referee Andres Frisk for giving Ireland their second penalty in normal time, which was converted by Robbie Keane to send the game into extra time.

‘‘There are lots of actions like that in every game and you can’t just give one of them,’’ he said.