Eastick thankful for English reserve

Brian Eastick was left to admire his side's determination after England recovered from conceding a goal after only eight minutes to defeat France 3-1 after extra time in Donetsk and reach the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final for the first time since 2005. His opposite number Jean Gallice, whose side finished with eight men, masterminded France's victory in that final four years ago by the same scoreline but this time round could only pay tribute to the strength of the victors.

Brian Eastick, England coach
Semi-finals are about winning and we're delighted to be in the final, particularly under the circumstances. France were the better team in the first half-hour; they played very well and we were on the back foot. We started to work a bit harder and press them in the middle third of the pitch, which I wanted the team to do, and we gained a bit of momentum. The equaliser gave us a lift and in the second period we created the better chances. Unfortunately we didn't convert them, and of course the [first] sending off; that doesn't always work in your favour, the game is littered with examples where ten men can be very difficult to play against but the important thing was for our players to keep their discipline and their cool and I was pleased they did that when the game got a bit fiery, shall we say.

You have to give France credit; they started better than us and for 30 minutes they were the better team. They have some good players. What is important when the opposition have the momentum and are playing better than you is that you stay in the match. We went a goal down but it was important that we didn't concede a goal in the next 15 minutes and that was the period of the game that got us through.

Jean Gallice, France coach
We had the good fortune to score the first goal, which was obviously good for us, but after that we perhaps lacked a second chance to score a second goal. Recovering after the Spain match was quite difficult but it was OK. We scored first but the first England goal, just before half-time, affected us a lot. We had studied England for several days before the game and knew they were a solid team – as you say in English, strong. They're a strong team. Our styles of play are quite different; we are a little more technical, while the England team is like a machine. They're solid and strong individually in the air.