Böger beaming but all not lost for hopeful trio

Stefan Böger was happy to see his revitalised Germany team put in an improved performance as they rubber-stamped their place in the last four, while France coach Jean-Claude Giuntini was again underwhelmed by his side's display. Meanwhile, Iceland cited a lack of luck for not snatching a point against Germany, and Vasil Maisuradze called Georgia's match against France "the hardest of his career".

ICELAND 0-1 GERMANY
Gunnar Gudmundsson, Iceland coach
Congratulations to Germany, they have a great team. I think my boys put up a great fight and with a little bit of luck we could have equalised at the end. I think our mistake in the first half was that when we won the ball we played too direct, as we had so few players up front. We spoke about it at half-time and did it much better in the second half. We heard the score in the other match at half-time, so we just bided our time and waited for a chance to come. Two came towards the end, and unfortunately we couldn't take them, but we are not out yet, we have another game.

Stefan Böger, Germany coach
Almost everything changed from our first performance. From the first minute we were running and moving and playing good football. It was a very well-deserved victory. Now we are not thinking about the semi-finals. The whole team must keep their feet on the ground but for now everything is good. I am happy because we did well to qualify from the group. We missed a lot of chances in this game, but they are young boys, and we will work on that.

FRANCE 1-1 GEORGIA
Jean-Claude Giuntini, France coach
I think it really felt like a cup game out there. It was certainly a cup scenario – we were up against a determined team with a lot of heart, some great qualities and it was tough. We made a mistake and now we are in a must-win match. I was disappointed in the number of chances we created. I think our goal came too late, after that we did not have much time – I always prefer to score early in a match. I also think we lacked efficiency so I am disappointed, but all is not lost. 

Vasil Maisuradze, Georgia coach
I have to thank my players for that performance – as a team we played very well, we were very close to the win. Apart from maybe England, we have never played such a physically imposing team before and we found that hard. Personally I think it was the hardest game of my career. We had to be much more defensive and sit back more than in the Germany match because we knew they were very fast and strong, and an aerial threat. I am pleased with our efforts, and now we must hope things go our way in the last match.