Pride in defeat for Serbia striker Despotović

There were mixed emotions for Djordje Despotović as Serbia bowed out of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship at the semi-final stage despite the striker's quickfire double against the Czech Republic.

By the time the FK Crvena Zvezda forward scored his first goal in Mogosaia, in the 23rd minute, his side already trailed the impressive Czechs 3-0, although twice in five minutes Despotović fired powerfully past goalkeeper Tomáš Koubek to revive the contest. Serbia were unable to find a third goal, however, instead conceding a fourth in added time to leave their No9 wondering what might have been.

"I'm glad to have scored twice in such an important game but the joy cannot be complete, no matter how many goals you score, when your team loses," Despotović told UEFA.com. "After we got the two goals we had chances to equalise, but it felt like we were too tired to put more pressure on the Czechs."

Dejan Govedarica's side also conceded three goals in the opening quarter of their second Group B match against Spain, although Despotović insisted Serbia had not been caught out by the Czechs' positive start. "They didn't surprise us because, like always, we watched and studied their previous games," he said. "The Czechs were the better but also probably the more fortunate team today. They showed more strength than we did in the important one-on-one duels."

Serbia's inability to deal with that means for the second time in three seasons their U19 campaign has come to an end in the semi-finals, although their centre-forward is keen to accentuate the positives over the campaign as a whole. "At the start of this season we were hoping to be in the first eight teams in Europe and qualify for these finals; we did that but then we were short of a little bit of luck. This is the end of this tournament but the beginning of the rest of our careers."

Next for Despotović is a domestic engagement with Crvena zvezda, the striker explaining: "I'll now go back to my club and in September I'll start a regional competition for U20 players. My long-term goal is to become a well-known footballer and to score for my senior national team but I'm aware of the need to take it step by step."

Although his focus has now switched to the future, the last two weeks in Romania have made an important contribution to the forward's development. "This has been the first big tournament of my career and everything was unbelievable for me," he explained. "The whole organisation, especially the hotel and the stadiums, was perfect. I leave Bucharest having had an invaluable experience."