Germany character delights Engel

Germany coach Frank Engel praised his side for their battling spirit after they came from behind to end Serbia's UEFA European Under-19 Championship hopes with a 3-2 victory that also clinched first place in Group B after France could only manage a goalless draw against bottom side Russia. Germany will now face Group A runners-up Spain in the semi-finals, when France take on holders Spain. uefa.com rounds up the reaction.

SERBIA 2-3 GERMANY
Zvonko Zivković, Serbia coach
It was an excellent game. We started the match very well and scored the early goal. But in the second half Germany showed they had come into the game in a more relaxed state and were better prepared psychologically because they knew one point would be enough to qualify. We needed the three points but we were playing against a very good team who were a little more relaxed and also fresher than us.

Frank Engel, Germany coach
Both teams put up an excellent fight. There was a lot at stake as both sides knew if they lost they would be out. In the end we scored the goals and I really have to compliment my team on how they played. The victory was deserved. I knew from the start it wouldn't be a very easy game. The way the game went made the match that much more difficult but the most important thing was the team showed a lot of character to come through and win.

RUSSIA 0-0 FRANCE
Ravil Sabitov, Russia coach
This game was a very interesting one for all the fans watching. We had a lot of chances to score but just like the game against Germany we couldn't make the most of them. We played late today and if we would have played our other games at the same time of day then it would have been better for us. France are a very strong team. They play very quickly, the forwards are very fast and they are very composed in defence. But our forwards were quicker than the French defenders and we created a number of chances, although their goalkeeper stopped everything we threw at him.

Guy Ferrier, France coach
The players were not disciplined enough. It was very difficult to get them motivated today and that's not good for a European Championship. We needed to change the team around because it's impossible for some players to play five matches in two weeks so we have to save them for the next game. We have to take every match as it comes although we are in the semi-finals so we can't complain - but we know that we have to play better against Spain.