Pyrrhic victory for the Portuguese

Portugal's Under-21 coach Agostinho Oliveira and his English counterpart David Platt will now be taking time to impress on their young charges that there will be as many "lows" as "highs" during their careers.

Considerable frustration
Oliveira must feel considerable frustration, because in victory last night his youngsters showed that they were more than capable of going all the way in the European Under-21 Championship finals in Switzerland. Platt felt that his team had promised much more than they finally delivered, but refused to be downhearted.

Swiss defeat vital
"It's so disappointing to go out by such a small margin," said Oliveira after his side's impressive 3-1 win over England in the final Group 1 match in Zürich - a pyrrhic victory, because Switzerland's goalless draw with Italy in Basel put the Swiss into the semi-finals at Portugal's expense. Although the two teams finished on four points, Switzerland's success over Portugal in the direct group meeting earlier this week made the difference.

Anguished end
The Portuguese players stayed out on the pitch after the game to hear the result of the Switzerland-Italy clash, and slumped to their knees in anguish when the final score came over the Hardturm stadium loudspeakers.

Excellent display
Oliveira's side produced a fine display on the night, running England ragged early on with some brilliant flowing football and establishing a two-goal lead within 20 minutes. "We were taken apart by their movement," admitted Platt. "I knew that they had some quality players, and we were slow to get started. Perhaps we started off a little bit too nervously."

Counterattack goal
"We managed to get a foothold on the game after about half an hour, and I thought that we had every chance of coming back, especially in the second half, but we left ourselves open to counterattacks which brought their third goal in the end," he added.

Sound advice
Platt, who has tasted almost every positive and negative experience that the game has to offer, praised his youngsters for their commitment, and offered sound advice. "If they want to operate at these levels between now and the end of their careers - [UEFA] European Championships, the [UEFA] Champions League or [FIFA] World Cups - then they will face a great deal more disappointment.

Disappointed dressing-room
"You have to expect that as a player - during my career, I've been through all the highs and lows," said Platt, who numbered Arsenal FC, Aston Villa FC and UC Sampdoria among his playing stations before hitting the management road with Nottingham Forest FC and the England U21 squad. "There's a disappointed dressing room that needs picking up - and I have no complaints with the team, it's been a privilege to work with this group of players."

Closely-fought
"It was a closely-fought match," added Oliveira, "and England are an aggressive team. They have some good players for the future, and we have showed that we also have some good young players coming through."

Thin line
"We've got a dressing-room of players who were capable of winning the tournament," concluded the philosophical Platt, "but at this level, there's a thin line between success and failure, and we've now got to look forward to the future. As a player, I learned to smile again quickly after setbacks, and my players here have to do the same"