Netherlands hailed but frustration elsewhere

"We were the better side," proclaimed Netherlands coach Albert Stuivenberg after opening UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group B with a 2-0 defeat of Germany in Smederevo. Steffen Freund, meanwhile, regretted the corner that gave the Dutch a second-half lead on a day when he missed suspended top scorer Samed Yesil and defender Koray Günter. The other game was drawn 1-1 in Belgrade with the coaches of both Romania and the Czech Republic proclaiming: "We should have won"

GERMANY 0-2 NETHERLANDS
Steffen Freund, Germany coach
When you lose 2-0 you are disappointed. Of course when you are missing two players who played so well in the last three games it's always bad, but there are no apologies from me. On the pitch my team were strong enough to beat Holland. Maybe they will in ten days' time [in the final]. It was an even game and the set piece put Holland in front.

Then when you are 1-0 down and playing against Holland they are always strong physically, well organised in defence, it's difficult to create chances. They were always dangerous with Anass Achahbar and Tonny Trindade de Vilhena going forward. That's why I congratulate Holland. For me it was an even game, only set pieces were the difference.

Albert Stuivenberg, Netherlands coach
We did a very good job today against a very strong Germany side. We too missed two [injured] players but the team gave a very strong performance. We did not give too many chances away. We didn't create too many ourselves at the start but we were dominant in certain periods. In the first ten minutes after the break we had some difficulties but then we scored the goal so it was in favour of us.

After that we had a very good match, we created chances, scored a very good second goal and could have scored more, but we controlled the game. [Germany's] Levent Aycicek is a fantastic player, Emre Can too, all of them. But our players did a very good job to restrict their space, so we won a lot of one on ones, that's what makes the difference. We were the better side.

CZECH REPUBLIC 1-1 ROMANIA
Josef Csaplár, Czech Republic coach
We are not pleased with the result. We went for the win with an attacking game. My team lost important points, and that's what's important for me. In the end, I am pleased with my players, but I think we should have won.

Adrian Văsâi, Romania, coach
A very important match, and a typical finals match. Both teams wanted to win. They didn't manage to win the game, but I see that they think they should have. I didn't have the idea to retreat after the first goal, but the players decided to be more defensive. We want to reach the final and I think that it is achievable.

I like the players' commitment during the game, but I didn't like the lack of concentration in the finish. I don't think that the Czech team were better even though they had more of the ball, and I think that we had the advantage of scoring first and that we should have won.