Home with heads held high

While England, France, Spain and Turkey can look forward to UEFA European Under-17 Championship semi-finals, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Greece and Switzerland are heading home after their group-stage exits.

All can look back on their campaigns with some positive thoughts, not least the fact they made it at all via a very competitive elite round, but there is naturally disappointment too. Perhaps it is most acute for Portugal, who at half-time in Monday's games were holding Spain and heading through, only to fall to a 2-0 defeat allowing France to snatch second place Group A.

Portugal's highlight was their opening 3-0 defeat of Switzerland when front three Ricardo Esgaio, Betinho and Bruma showed off their burgeoning talent and Mateus Fonseca and João Mário supported well from midfield. Rui Bento's side then went down 1-0 to France before losing to Spain, but their defence built around Tiago Ferreira and Tobias Figueiredo was never easy to beat.

Having ended a six-year wait for Portugal to reach the U17 finals, Bento said: "I think this generation of players have a shining future. They played to a high standard here, a much higher standard than they do in the Portuguese youth championships. They have quality and passion; these are the most essential things if you want to be a football player, and they know about the game. So I have a lot of confidence about their future."

Switzerland, depleted by injuries before the tournament as well as suspensions, followed the Portugal loss with a 4-0 defeat against Spain but led France at half-time before their third reverse. "After the first two matches I wanted my team to respond and I saw this against France," coach Heinz Moser said. "We need to see the positive things because we did react well. We made small mistakes but at this level, small mistakes lead to goals."

Just missing out in Group B were the Czech Republic, who having lost 3-1 to England in their opener held Turkey 1-1 to keep their hopes alive. However, those dreams were dashed by a goalless draw against Greece. The team worked well as a unit but a lack of goals undid them. Coach Jiří Štol said: "Even though we have not reached the semi-finals we are very pleased that we qualified. It is the first time these players have played in such a big tournament and it has been a very positive experience for them."

Greece were unfortunate to be out after their first two games – narrow losses to Turkey and England – but they at least got off the mark against the Czech Republic on their U17 finals debut. "From the start we have been very happy to be here," coach Leonidas Vokolos said. "The best teams in Europe are here and with a bit more luck in our three games, who knows?"