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Wück magnanimous after Germany's final defeat

Christian Wück had no complaints with Germany's 4-1 loss to a France team containing some "unbelievable" players, saying "we had too many who weren't at the top of their game".

Germany defender Jonas Busam challenges France's Jean-Victor Makengo
Germany defender Jonas Busam challenges France's Jean-Victor Makengo ©Sportsfile

Germany lose 4-1 to France in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final
Wück tells UEFA.com that too many of his players "weren't at the top of their game"
The Germany coach says France have some "unbelievable" talents in their squad
Germany's focus now turns to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in October and November
Daniel Nesseler believes Germany will leave Bulgaria with "a lot of positives"

Christian Wück, Germany coach
Congratulations to France. We played a very good team with many top players. It wasn't a good day for us. We started well, having the first chance through Felix Passlack, but it was clear that France were better. The scoreline was two goals too high, but it was a fair win. We were the better team after our goal, but the third goal for France was a killer. We are proud of the team, although we had too many players today who weren't at the top of their game. We wanted to bring fresh players in [Wück made five changes to the side that started the semi-final against Russia], we've done that throughout the tournament, so we switched things around.

Highlights: France 4-1 Germany

We have very good players, but today too many didn't reach their level – that was the problem. We are disappointed, but tomorrow we will head back to Germany very proud. We will now think about the [FIFA U-17] World Cup in Chile. The big difference between Germany and France is the players. We have maybe one or two on a very good international level while they have four, possibly six, who are unbelievable. Our goalkeeper [Constantin Frommann] was also unbelievable today, he had a very good game.

Daniel Nesseler, Germany defender
We had a very good tournament. Of course it hurts to lose in the final, but we can take a lot of positives from our performances and we can now look forward to the World Cup in Chile in October. We fought right until the last minute, we gave everything we had. It wasn't to be for us today, but we can be proud of ourselves as a team and can move on from this defeat.

Constantin [Frommann] is a really strong keeper and he's a keeper for the big moments – he has saved us so many times. As a defender, it makes me feel stronger knowing that he's behind me. We'll be able to look back at this tournament as really good experience for us. It was not the best ending, but now we need to look forward and use what we've learned here to shape our future.