Norwegian joy leaves Danes down

There were contrasting emotions in Akranes after Norway defeated Denmark to reach the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship at the expense of their opponents. If the winning coach, Jarl Torske, "felt fantastic", Denmark's Henrik Lehm was bitterly disappointed that his side would go no further in the tournament.

Norway coach Jarl Torske
It feels fantastic to win this match. It means so much to me and is definitely one of the highlights of my coaching career. I thought we deserved the win in the end and although there were some nervous moments in the second half we knew we had done it when Isabell [Herlovsen] scored the last goal. It is not only good to reach the last four but also to be at the [FIFA U-20 Women's] World Cup in Chile. That means a lot. Now we will enjoy this moment and tomorrow start preparing for the semi-final with England.

Denmark coach Henrik Lehm
I am deeply disappointed. I thought we were the better team today and deserved to go through to the last four. I didn't like the way the Norwegian team played today. They were very direct. We played the better football and it really hurts me to see the girls so upset. It's the end of an era for this generation of girls who have been together for five years because we have now missed out on the World Cup in Chile. The one good thing is they will learn a lot from this disappointment and one day it may help them in their senior career.