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Degrange lauds France's midfield dynamos

France coach Jean-Michel Degrange hailed his "little girls" in midfield as the heroes of the hard-fought 2-0 victory over Switzerland in Minsk on Sunday that propelled Les Bleuettes into the semi-finals as Group A winners.

Switzerland's Sarah Steinmann tussles with French goalscorer Solène Barbance during the eagerly-disputed match in Minsk
Switzerland's Sarah Steinmann tussles with French goalscorer Solène Barbance during the eagerly-disputed match in Minsk ©Sportsfile

France coach Jean-Michel Degrange hailed his "little girls" in midfield as the heroes of Sunday's hard-fought 2-0 victory over Switzerland that propelled Les Bleuettes into the semi-finals as Group A winners. Tenacious duo Léa Rubio and Amélie Barbetta played a vital part in taming a Swiss side that had inflicted a heavy loss on Germany just three days earlier, ensuring Yannick Schwery's charges finish second in the section. "This is the first time a Swiss women's team has qualified for a semi-final yet we are all hanging our heads," lamented Schwery.

Jean-Michel Degrange, France coach 
I'd like to congratulate the whole squad because they showed a lot of solidarity and application. The first ten minutes were hard for us but luckily our goalkeeper made a couple of key saves. We got on top after that, although it wasn't easy because Switzerland played with nine behind the ball and once again we found ourselves trying to break down a defensive opponent. I told the girls that we had to keep a clean sheet at least until half-time because if we conceded first it would have been mission impossible. I felt that if we played with patience we would get chances and we were lucky enough to score early in the second half. This made the Swiss come out more, leaving more space for us to exploit.

Our 'little girls' in midfield all played extremely well. They put in a lot of effort and were always available. But our success is down to the solidarity of the whole squad. Solène Barbance is on a good run and I hope her goalscoring form continues. The competition is still very open but I said that right from the start. Germany might have been favourites because of past success, but you don't know what will happen until you play the games. I hope the semi-finals will bring us some more exciting matches. We played Sweden recently in La Manga; they're a very good team with pacy attackers so I think it will be a good game.

Yannick Schwery, Switzerland coach 
France deserved this win. The French team played with a lot of aggression and it was clear they really wanted to get the victory. We also tried to give it our best shot. The fact I picked virtually the same team that beat Germany shows we were taking it very seriously. We tried our best but it wasn't enough, so we should congratulate France who did everything to get the points. What is a pity is that this is the first time a Swiss women's team has qualified for a semi-final and we are all hanging our heads. That's a shame.

This is the first time this team have lost so it's going to be interesting to see how the girls react. We really played to win today, as we always do, and that's all I can ask for. Jehona Mehmeti's injury [sustained during the warm-up] didn't help, of course. I would rather have had her today but that's why we have 18 players here. France and Germany are very different teams. France are very technical, they pass the ball very well. Germany, on the other hand, are a very committed team with everyone strong in the tackle.