Spain have put their 4-1 win over Russia in the group stage out of their minds and expect a far tougher challenge from Guus Hiddink's side in their semi-final on Thursday.

"That opening 4-1 defeat was a big blow to them, but they were the better side in each of their next three games," midfielder Xavi told a press conference tomorrow.

"They have grown in confidence so much that they are practically favourites to win the competition now."

The Barcelona player, who is the key link in the Spanish midfield, admitted that the scoreline against Russia had been misleading.

"In that first game against them we had a little bit of luck on the second goal to go 2-0 up and that allowed us to play on the counter-attack," he said.

"We certainly haven't become over-confident. There is no danger of that with this team nor with this coach. We got lucky in the penalties against Italy but in this game you have to make your own luck."

Although Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin has received the plaudits for his outstanding performances since returning from a two-match ban, Xavi said Spain would have to be on their guard against the whole side.

"There has been a lot of talk about Arshavin, but I think Russia is a very powerful team in general. They've got a lot of players that aren't known that well in Europe but are very good like (striker Roman) Pavlyuchenko and (Yuri) Zhirkov on the left side of midfield.

"We watched them play the Netherlands and I think they beat them in large part because they were so strong and fit in extra time.

"Having said that we were in good shape too in extra time against Italy."

The midfielder said the whole team were relieved to have broken the quarter-final hoodoo with their victory over Italy, ending a 24-year wait for a semi-final place at a major tournament, but stressed that they were not content to stop at the last four.

"I'm very happy because we have taken a step towards making history, but we haven't done it yet. We've got a tough nut to crack in Russia, but the team is ready in all senses and we want to win the tournament.

"We want to keep faith with our playing style. This game will be very different but the key will be if we can keep control of the ball."