Zivković celebrates Serbia success

Serbia coach Zvonko Zivković believes his side stepped up a gear in the victory against Russia that breathed fresh life into their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship for the second time in three years, while for his opposite number Ravil Sabitov there was reflection after a second Group B defeat that spelt elimination. France and Germany are still in pole position to progress, however, and their respective coaches Guy Ferrier and Frank Engel were in relieved mood after their draw in Ried left the section finely poised ahead of Saturday's final round of matches. uefa.com rounds up the reaction.

RUSSIA 2-6 SERBIA
Zvonko Zivković, Serbia coach
Against France we played well for 35 minutes; today we played well for all 90. We kept the ball really well, much better than in the first game. We scored at the right times and we were clinical; practically every chance we had we scored. Russia have two very good players, Artem Dzyuba and Aleksandr Salugin, so we concentrated on them; we knew if we stopped them playing, we would stop Russia. We controlled the ball well, got it out wide and created a lot of goalscoring opportunities.

Ravil Sabitov, Russia coach
We know that now we can't get to the semi-finals but there's no panic in our team. We have done as much as we can to give our best in this competition but it hasn't been enough. We lost to a very strong Serbia team, they're an excellent side and they showed that today, particularly in the second half. They played really well; we tried our best but they were better than us. Comparing us to Serbia is like comparing a Lada to a Mercedes; their engine was more powerful than ours.

GERMANY 1-1 FRANCE
Frank Engel, Germany coach
Again we started really well in the game and the early goal was very good for us. In the first half particularly we controlled the match and had several opportunities; unfortunately we could only convert one, which was certainly not enough. After the break, the team got a bit tired, which was to be expected considering both the speed at which they played in the opening half and the fact our first game took place in tremendous heat.

Guy Ferrier, France coach
We had a rather poor start, conceded an early goal and my team needed some time to adapt to Germany's style of play. That aside, my players were rather tired having played with ten men for the majority of the first match and considering the way the game unfolded we can look on this as a point gained because, again, we lost a player to a red card. That's a habit we have to get out of. However in the second half we were the better side despite having only ten men. Whatever happens now, the players once more proved they have huge heart and the mentality to cope with any test.