Casillas relieved after tense win

Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas admitted his side's late winner against Croatia felt like a weight off our shoulders simply because they qualified for your UEFA EURO 2012 quarter-finals.New Orleans Saints Jerseys Each of the teams - together with Group C rivals Italy, who are facing the Republic of Ireland in Poznan all at once - went on the closing minutes of last night's action with the progression still from the balance. Together with the game in Gdansk goalless, a Croatia winner would have eliminated Spain, while an equaliser in the Republic would have seen Italy knocked out. In the event, Jesus Navas' simple finish settled Spanish nerves before Mario Balotelli secured Italy a 2-0 success so that the group big guns marched on.morten andersen jersey And Casillas said: I think it had become a very tense match, but that's normal so it was crucial for you to get through to the next round. Croatia were set to face us. They made it very difficult for us to form chances, they defended wonderfully. In the end there we were lucky, scoring late on. It felt as a weight off our shoulders. Goalscorer Navas added: It's great to qualify in this way, especially if you win. We added more points towards the tally and finished first within group. Were very happy regarding this. Croatia were great opponents but i was able to fight our technique to this victory. We always select the win. That's what we believe in, that maybe what we play for.Lance Moore jersey France, England or co-hosts Ukraine await in the last eight and Navas said: Whoever we face, let us stick to our game. Now i'm really eager for whoever i will have to play. Croatian heartbreak Croatia had chances to snatch victory - not least when Ivan Rakitic's diving header forced a sharp save from Casillas, who said: I was lucky derived from one of situation that might have put us in danger. Rakitic added: I decided not to manage to consider the chance that came my way. I do think I will probably have insomnia thinking about that. It was obvious that we gave everything at the pitch, we gave it our best shot. I am able to honestly state that my soul was left on that pitch, but I need a lot of folks to carry me off of the pitch because I'm certainly literally dead. Team-mate Danijel Pranjic added: As long as being the match used to be scoreless we had a try. If Rakitic had scored, to know how this match will have ended. If you can earn Spain nervous prior to the last minute of the match about going through, I think which can be an outstanding performance.