Passing and pressing pays off for Ireland and Czechs

There were mixed emotions among the four coaches in UEFA European Under-19 Championship Group A after the Czech Republic and Republic of Ireland opened their finals campaigns with wins against hosts Romania and Greece respectively. While home coach Lucian Burchel bemoaned his side's basic mistakes, his Czech counterpart Jaroslav Hřebík believed a pressing game had paid off, and Paul Doolin praised Ireland's remarkable run. UEFA.com hears from all four coaches.

ROMANIA 1-3 CZECH REPUBLIC
Lucian Burchel, Romania coach
I'm a bit disappointed because we made elementary mistakes. We came out for each half in a positive frame of mind but then made errors and that's hard. We were really in it in the first half, we got in front and we could certainly have avoided their equaliser at the end of the first half. The problem was the second goal; we made a mistake which led to the penalty and then we were behind. We didn't lack anything in terms of attitude but we made basic mistakes. The Czechs are a good team, they had a bit of luck in the sense that we were lacking something psychologically but they're disciplined and have good players.

Jaroslav Hřebík, Czech Republic coach
It was a tough match and tough weather. It was an end-to-end game and I'm very happy with how we played. It was a good performance to start the tournament for both teams but of course it's better for us. I'd only seen two matches of Romania on DVD and my impression of the team from today is that they are a very high level, much better than before. When they came close to our goal they were always very dangerous. The main difference for us is that we pressed the opposition very well in their half. That meant Romania had to play long balls and we didn't have a problem with them. We pushed them and they had to play that way.

GREECE 1-2 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Leonidas Vokolos, Greece coach
Congratulations to Ireland for their win; we wish them the best of luck from here. For us it wasn't a very good game especially in the first half. We conceded two goals we shouldn't have. We knew Ireland were good at set pieces but we weren't concentrating in those particular moments. In the second half we tried more and we had more possession but it wasn't to be. I look at it like we have lost a battle but not the war.

Paul Doolin, Republic of Ireland coach
We started off very well with a great goal [from Anthony O'Connor]; for a centre-half he took it brilliantly. Greece came back with a stunning equaliser of their own. They have very good technical players and enjoyed good spells in the game. Some of our football was excellent and we also enjoyed good passages of play. In the second half our passing was fantastic. You think before the game that if you can't win then you certainly don't want to lose. All in all we are very happy; we've had a great run of results.