Débonnaire draws sigh of relief

They may have been put under pressure by the Netherlands, but Switzerland held on to draw 0-0 and remain top of UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group B to the relief of coach Yves Débonnaire. Behind them on goal difference are Croatia, who came from behind to defeat - and eliminate - Israel. Coach Ivan Gudelj said the half-time introduction of Damir Vidovic with the score at 1-0 was decisive, as he scored two and made one in a 4-2 victory.

SWITZERLAND 0-0 NETHERLANDS
Yves Débonnaire, Switzerland coach
I became older, my hair got whiter and I even lost some - that was a very difficult match! The Dutch are very sharp and technically very strong. We were forced to defend even though we didn't want to. They were controlling the ball. However, we can also be successful in that type of game. The proof is that we had some good chances. Today, my players showed courage and solidarity. We have to keep up with the same determination and organisation in defence but we have to be better with the ball and be calmer technically. We did have a great chance to score but it would have been hard on the Dutch. My players deserved a point for their commitment and the Netherlands didn't deserve to lose a game they dominated.

Ruud Kaiser, Netherlands coach
I have to compliment my players. They did well today. We deserved to win but for that you need to score goals...and we didn't. The Swiss coach came to me at the end and even told me that we were the better. Some players underperformed against Croatia. We talked about it and today everybody played well. I have just had some reactions from people who watched the match from the Netherlands on Eurosport and they also said we hadd a good game. Today, Switzerland were in a different position because they already had three points. But their counterattacks were very dangerous. Switzerland have some very skilful players and a good organisation.

ISRAEL 2-4 CROATIA
Avraham Bahar, Israel coach
We were very, very good and very aggressive in the first half. The defence was playing very well, but when Croatia brought on faster players it caused us difficulties. Everyone wanted to win this game, but they forgot the importance of defence. I think the individual performances were good from the strikers and midfielders, but the defenders gave away easy goals. If you make those sort of mistakes in a European championship, you get punished. Vidovic caused us problem with his pace in the second half.

Ivan Gudelj, Croatia coach
In the first half we played very badly and were too passive. But after conceding a goal were changed our personnel, and that is what contributed to our success. A draw would not have been enough for us, we were also looking to win, especially to regain motivation after losing the 2-0 lead against the Netherlands.