Happy night for hosts and French

A year on from losing to Russia in the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship final - having won 4-0 on the opening day against the same opponents - France defeated their rivals 4-1 as Group B began in sweltering conditions, something both coaches admitted was a factor while agreeing that Les Bleuettes were superior. The hosts are also celebrating after a 2-0 win against the Netherlands that the Swiss coach Claudio Taddei hailed as one of his team's "best performances", in contrast to his opposite number's gloom.

RUSSIA 1-4 FRANCE
Valentin Grishin, Russia coach
The French were stronger - for now. I am disappointed with the way my defence played. We were weaker in team play than the French and we will try to use this to improve. We expected France to come at us from the start, we knew from last time. We tried out best to deal with that. The heat was a problem for us, for some of the girls it was too hot. They did not play the way they can play. If we played again tomorrow it would be a different game.

Stéphane Pilard, France coach
I am very happy of course. It is very important in this competition to win your first game. Up to Russia scoring we were very good, then it was more difficult. Once we scored the third it was easier. It was not revenge - that was another game, another season. The heat was more difficult for Russia, it was the same as the first game last year. We played our game, but we knew it would be difficult with [Elena] Danilova and [Elena] Morozova. [Defender] Morgane Courte had the experience, she won her dual with Danilova.

SWITZERLAND 2-0 NETHERLANDS
Claudio Taddei, Switzerland coach
I am very happy. In the first 20 minutes we played well and we had the game under control throughout the second half - we could have scored more than two. I hope we can get those goals against Russia and France. It was one of the best performances by my new team this season.

Ed Engelkes, Netherlands coach
We beat ourselves, we are really disappointed. Only in the second part of the first half did we play a bit better but we had no real chances in the 90 minutes. France will be another game, I have to speak with my girls but we need two wins now.