Alonso Backs England and France for Euro Success

Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso has tipped France and England to impress at the upcoming European championships.

The duo are set to meet in the opening game of Group D on 11 June and Alonso believes it would be foolish to underestimate the impact either side can have on the tournament.

"France and England are in that bunch of teams who are capable of going far," Alonso told FIFA.com. "They are part of that group because of the players they have and their respective histories.

"They have this competitive instinct and even if they aren't talked about much with respect to this competition, they are more than able to attain their target (of winning it)," said the former Liverpool midfielder.

Alonso was part of the Spain side when they claimed their first major title in 44 years at the 2008 European championships. Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game as they beat Germany 1-0 in the final in Vienna and the striker will be hoping to recapture that blistering form in Poland and Ukraine this summer.

Torres believes he is approaching his best form after a difficult season at Stamford Bridge culminated in Champions League triumph against Bayern Munich.

Torres has struggled to hold down a place in the Chelsea first XI since his £50m move from Liverpool in January 2011 but insists he can be a key figure as Spain attempt to defend their Euro crown without David Villa.

"Physically I feel very good and fresh because I haven't had the drain of so many games as my team-mates," Torres told ESPN.

"I'm hopeful of showing my best to the team. It's true I would have liked to have played more with Chelsea to be in better playing shape."

Spain will continue their preparations for the tournament with two more warm-up matches against South Korea on Wednesday and China on Sunday, having already beaten Serbia 2-0 at the weekend.

Vicente Del Bosque's squad will then fly to Poland on 5 June and play all their group games in Gdansk, starting against Italy on 10 June.