Italy secured second spot in Group C and a quarter-final against Spain with a 2-0 victory over 10-man France in Zurich.

Andrea Pirlo's 25th-minute penalty and Daniele De Rossi's deflected second-half free-kick were enough to secure the three points, and Romania's defeat to Holland ensured Italy survived.

Pirlo stroked home calmly from the spot after Luca Toni had been brought down by Eric Abidal, who was duly given his marching orders.

France's night got off to a bad start in the seventh minute when Toni's Bayern Munich team-mate Franck Ribery was carried off on a stretcher after landing awkwardly on his left ankle challenging Gianluca Zambrotta for the ball.

Marseille playmaker Samir Nasri came on as a replacement, with Ribery clearly in pain.

Moments later, Les Bleus had Claude Makelele to thank for clearing Christian Panucci's header off the line following an Andrea Pirlo corner.

France right winger Sidney Govou, who started brightly, then screwed an effort way wide from distance, although a pass to fellow Lyon colleagues Karim Benzema or Francoie Clerc may have been a better option.

Pirlo's ball down the middle to Toni was inch-perfect but the striker was brought down by Abidal in the box.

The Barcelona defender was the last man and got a straight red card - and his misery was compounded when Pirlo netted from the spot.

France started the second half despite being a man down but De Rossi's 35-yard free-kick deflected off Thierry Henry and past the stranded Gregory Coupet to leave Les Bleus too much to do, although the lively Karim Benzema's curling effort did force Gianluigi Buffon into a fine save.

Afterwards Holland coach Marco van Basten was a happy man.

"We played a good game. We started not really fresh, not really good - maybe because the pitch was a little bit wet," said Van Basten.

"After a difficult 20-25 minutes, we came into the game, played better and better and created a lot of chances.

"We got better and better and finally made it 1-0 and we completely controlled the game. We could have made it 3-0."

Romania coach Victor Piturca was left to reflect on what might have been after his side's elimination.

"It was a very good campaign, we played very well," said Piturca.

"Playing in such a group with such fantastic teams and not losing our first two matches against the World Cup finalists is a real achievement for our team.

"We could have done better. If we had scored a penalty against Italy we would have qualified."

More news from SportingLife.com