Positive approach reaps rewards

Francis Smerecki, France coach
Obvious I think it was the team who had the most opportunities to score that won the game, though it was certainly a difficult match. It was very hard to play against Turkey, but obviously I am delighted for my team. It has always been a part of our training to practice penalties, even during the Elite round tournament in Israel we practiced penalties. I think I have the team with the strongest mentality of all the sides in the tournament. I was very happy with the performance of my players, they wanted to win more and did more than Turkey to win the game overall.

Şenol Ustaömer, Turkey coach
The tournament started very well for us and everything was going well today, but the two main penalty-takers missed in the shoot-out. We haven't lost a game but we are out of the tournament. In 55 games we've played over the last two years we have only lost twice – to France – and now we have lost on penalties. We are sad, they played to the best of their abilities, in my opinion we played the strongest team in this competition. We fought well but couldn't hold on to the one-goal advantage. Even the best teams can lose on penalties, They played 100 minutes against a very good team and lost on penalties, even Brazil can lose on penalties.

Anthony Mfa Mezui, France goalkeeper
It was not easy but it will be great to play in the final. It was nothing special, we just tried to keep our concentration. We sometimes practice penalties, and we did yesterday but nothing extra. I am feeling good because of the achievement of the team and the spirit in the squad.