Coaches keen to keep it positive
Monday 21 July 2008
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Photos/Wallpapers »
Horst Hrubesch was full of praise for Germany's team ethic after a third successive victory secured first place in Group A and a semi-final against UEFA European Under-19 Championship hosts the Czech Republic, while beaten coach Tibor Sisa still found plenty of reasons to be cheerful with a last-four tie against Italy to anticipate. Spain's emphatic win against Bulgaria left Ginés Meléndez with a FIFA U-20 World Cup place but wondering what might have been had fortune been kinder to his side, while Mihail Madanski admitted simply qualifying for these finals had been an achievement for the section's bottom team. uefa.com rounds up the reaction.
HUNGARY 1-2 GERMANY
Horst Hrubesch, Germany coach
The result makes sense given the performance of both teams. After a fabulous start, we missed a lot of chances and I thought we were lacking some positional discipline. In the second half we were able to take control of the match, and win it, because we went back to making the most of our abilities. The two goalscorers [Stefan Reinartz and Marcel Risse] both did well but we played as a team; nobody played badly and this victory was a team effort.
Tibor Sisa, Hungary coach
Germany were the favourites to win beforehand and I saw plenty of positive moments from our team, but of course the result is disappointing so I can't be totally satisfied with the performance. I expected Germany to be very strong physically but they combine it with an organised way of playing and the surprising element of the game, which people often think Germany are lacking, was not missing at all. They are the strongest team I've seen so far in the tournament. Of course I'm looking for revenge – in the final.
SPAIN 4-0 BULGARIA
Ginés Meléndez, Spain coach
This match quickly became very easy for us, with a great goal from Aarón [Ñíguez], and we were better than Bulgaria throughout. Today we had a bit more luck than we had in the first two matches, and this was very important – that luck could have got us to the semi-finals but it wasn't to be. To play in the World Cup is very important for Spain and was our first objective. In the last two seasons we won the title but the third title in a row is very difficult – almost impossible in fact. This is a very strong tournament, the strongest I've seen in four years at U19 coach. We've qualified for the finals for three years and won it twice – now it's someone else's turn.
Mihail Madanski, Bulgaria coach
The championship was already over for us before today because after the first game against Hungary we had three or four players injured. Today we had only two fit defenders, and our team were shaky as a result but Spain's first two goals both came from our mistakes. In the first half we played badly, and beat ourselves – in the second we played against Spain and they beat us. We had the same situation against Hungary, plenty of chances but no result. We worked all the game but couldn't get a goal. This tournament was still very useful for us, we have two or three players born in 1990 and we will start a new European Championship with them next season. I have worked for this team for three months and just to be here is a success.
©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
