Spain wins will assure Euro 2012 entry: Villa

Spain will have one foot in the Euro 2012 finals if they win their Group I qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Lithuania this month, Barcelona striker David Villa said on Tuesday.

The World champions will play the Czechs at home on Friday and travel to Lithuania four days later.

They are bidding to become the first team to retain the European title having won the Euro 2008 edition and hope for a qualification similar to that of the World Cup finals when they won all 10 matches.

"We have two very important matches coming up and if we win them we will have one foot in the next Euro tournament," Villa said on the sidelines of the inauguration of a wax replica of himself at Madrid's wax museum.

"The sooner we achieve our goal, the better. They are two complicated matches and we intend to win them both," he added.

Spain, ranked number one in the world rankings, are currently top of their 2012 European Championship qualifying Group I, three points ahead of the Czech Republic. They are the bookmakers' favourites to win Euro 2012.