Organisation the key for hosts' progress

UEFA European Under-17 Championship hosts Germany are through to the semi-finals from Group B with a game to spare after a 4-0 defeat of England and coach Marco Pezzaiuoli was relieved that his side were able to perform in front of a crowd of around 8,500 in Jena. The Netherlands only need a point against the hosts on Tuesday to join them after defeating now-eliminated Turkey 2-1, though coach Albert Stuivenberg feels his side can play a lot better. Meanwhile, England's John Peacock and Turkey's Abdullah Ercan are both turning their focus on clinching a top-three group finish and a FIFA U-17 World Cup berth alongside Germany and the Netherlands.

Germany 4-0 England
Marco Pezzaiuoli, Germany coach
I am very happy that we have qualified for the semi-finals. It was a very difficult game because of the large crowd in the stadium which was a new situation for our players and they were nervous. We did not start well but as the England coach said we were well organised. Lennart Thy is an important player for us and I am really happy for him that he scored because he came into the tournament with an injury and we did not even know whether he would be able to play. We did not play well in the first half but got the goals at the right time. The same happened after the break. As soon as England started to put us under some pressure we seemed to score. I think we deserved to win.

John Peacock, England manager
Congratulations to Germany. They did very well today. It was a well-organised performance. It is a shame for us because we did not start well against the Netherlands the other day. We started well, but after the first goal it was difficult to get back into it. There was some poor defending from us but obviously some good play from Germany, no complaints. I think it was a difficult game for us today. The first goal was always going to be important. We have to show character because we have an important game on Tuesday and we want to qualify for the World Cup. Some damage has been done today but we will be fine by Tuesday.
 
Turkey 1-2 Netherlands
Abdullah Ercan, Turkey coach
After losing the first match we tried to change our luck. The first half was evenly balanced but conceding a goal right at the end caused us problems. Then they went 2-0 up which made it worse, and we tried to come back but we lost. In football, goals decide games. But we can still finish third in the group and qualify for the World Cup, this is now our aim. We congratulate the Netherlands, and we hope to play better in future competitions.

Albert Stuivenberg, Netherlands coach
First of all we are very happy with the result. I must say we started very well again, we had a big chance that we missed. But we are not pleased with the way we played today. I think we could do much better. Normally our strength is possession but we lost the ball so many times and we gave Turkey chances to come back into the game by playing the ball to their players. This was a big problem for us during the game as I believe we had many chances after going 1-0 and 2-0 up to settle the game and play on the counterattack. But in the end it is about three points and, of course, we are still in the race.