Tina Theune-Meyer lifts the trophy with her triumphant Germany team (Getty Images/Bongarts)Theune-Meyer hails her heroes
Sunday, 19 June 2005by Kevin Ashbyfrom Blackburn
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PrintGermany overcame Norway 3-1 at Ewood Park to clinch their fourth straight UEFA European Women's Championship. Two goals in three minutes from Anja Mittag and Renate Lingor put the Germans in control before Dagny Mellgren's 41st-minute strike threw Norway a lifeline. Birgit Prinz finished the game as Germany's hero, when her 63rd-minute deflected shot broke Norwegian hearts. The win ensures coach Tina Theune-Meyer ends her reign on a high before handing control to her assistant, Silvia Neid. uefa.com caught up with coaches after the game.
Tina Theune-Meyer, Germany coach
I think if you look back at the tournament, I always had the feeling that we could win it - today I had the same feeling. When we scored the third goal I knew we would be European champions; when the second went in I thought it's going well for us, although the team weren't really on the field for the last ten minutes of the first half. I don't think we're so far ahead of the other teams in Europe because they all have players for the future. What makes us a winning team is that we have a tough-minded group who play hard and want to win everything. We have a very good structure, from the age of 15 players have very good coaches and it works like a conveyor belt. We've always had fantastic teams since I've been involved - like the team in 1989 which won this competition in Germany, the one which won the [FIFA Women's] World Cup in 2003 and this one. I've had many great moments working with Silvia and we've always had plenty of great players and talent coming through. I thought Norway would be very strong in this competition and that's how it turned out - they have a team for the future.
Bjarne Berntsen, Norway coach
I was very confident for the second half, as we were very good for the last 20 minutes before half-time and I felt we would create chances. Once they scored the third it became too difficult for us to come back against a quality team like Germany. I'm very pleased and proud with the way we tried all game and what we have achieved in winning silver medals even though I am disappointed. We were not at our best in the final - it was terrible defending for the second goal and we made too many mistakes in the final third when there were easier options. We cannot blame tiredness as we've had four good sessions aimed at recovery since the Sweden squad. We have a young team and none of the squad is near an age where they have to think about retiring. We showed today we can player attractive and offensive football although we need to tighten up our defensive play to be as good as Germany. We start World Cup qualifying in August and have to accept we're favourites for our group. We're all confident and looking forward to it.
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