World champions Spain thrashed Germany 83-55 in their quarter-final to book a place in the last four at the European Championship.

Germany, who knocked Spain out 74-73 in the semis on their way to a silver medal in 2005, were left trailing as their opponents turned on the style after the midway point.

Jose Manuel Calderon led the charge with 17 points, while Rudy Fernandez and Juan Carlos Navarro each added 12.

They will meet the winner of Friday's match between the holders Greece and Slovenia.

"It's not very often as a coach you can say you enjoyed a game, but I did enjoy moments tonight," Spain coach Pepu Hernandez said. "There was extraordinary commitment from all the players."

Calderon made the decisive break scoring nine points at the end of the second quarter to open up a 40-27 lead from which Germany never recovered.

Spain were ruthless and put their rivals to the sword with some outstanding offensive play and a rock solid defence.

The tournament's leading scorer Germany's Dirk Nowitzki was restricted to just 11 points, and expressed his disappointment with their performance.

"The odds were against us. We don't have as much talent as other teams, but we didn't stick together and fight as a team like we should have done," he said.

Reuters