Norway's Pellerud hails 'dedicated' Gulbrandsen

Even Pellerud, Norway coach
I'm very pleased with the win and pleased with the team's ability to bounce back from a disappointing draw [against Iceland] in the last game. The team has stayed very focused and full of concentration in the hotel.

The pressure was greater today. We all knew a win could be very important and, of course, it is. The only negative was our failure to score earlier and to score a second goal. That was a repeat of the last game, but I have to say that the effort to get the ball into the box, the effort to fight for the second ball, was better than it was in the first game.

I played with [Solveig Gulbrandsen's] dad for many years – he was my boss on the field. She was 14 when I was training my first national team, so we go back a long way. I don't think I've seen a more dedicated or systematic player in my life, male or female. She has put in an enormous effort and has become maybe the fittest player in the team.

She works harder than anyone else and it was really nice to see her go forward and take the risk for that finish. It was very important that she took the risk. We have the tendency to take too many touches, too many passes around the penalty area, but she went straight through and she has that mentality which I love about her.

Roger Reijners, Netherlands coach
We are disappointed with the result. Norway deserved their victory and the match we played was not good enough – it was not good enough from the start. We want to play out from the goalkeeper, but our first three balls were long balls and that's not the way we want to play. And that is also the strong point of the Norway team.

After the first 20 to 25 minutes it got a little bit better and the start of the second half was good, but the distances between our lines were too big. We had two or three chances at the end, but then Norway also had further opportunities after they went 1-0 ahead. We have one point so we know what we have to do now against Iceland: we have to win.