Record win meaningless for Meinert

Any latecomer to the Darida Stadium would have been hard-pressed to identify which team had just won 9-0 as Germany were left as dejected as their Belarusian hosts after a finals record victory proved insufficient to see them advance. Maren Meinert was keen to keep her emotions in check as she refused to speculate on whether it was fair for her team to be departing in these circumstances, France and Switzerland progressing from Group A at their expense. Dmitri Shevchuk provided some indication as he said "they are among strongest sides here", the Belarus coach adding that "this tournament has provided invaluable experience" for his own charges.

Maren Meinert, Germany coach
We started very well, scored several early goals and had absolutely no problems in defence. My girls did very well. I don't know how other teams have been playing against Belarus but I really liked the show we put on today. I told the girls not to think about the other match and to focus on their own game. I think they performed very well and right now I don't want to comment on whether it is fair or not that we are out. I'm disappointed and don't want to say the wrong things so soon after the final whistle. I will think about that.

Dmitri Shevchuk, Belarus coach
The most important thing is that the girls have received international experience; it is what they really needed. It is a great pity our last act at the tournament was so sad, but there were justifiable reasons. We were without three players through injuries, three players who are totally irreplaceable for the team [Anzhela Lapusta and Tatyana Kiose were ruled out of the tournament with knee injuries, captain Yelena Zyuzkova missed the Germany defeat with a neck problem].

We wanted to play better, but we have to appreciate that we have lost to a very strong team. They are in very good shape and, no doubts, are among strongest sides here. We have a lot of players in the side who are 16, 17 because we don't have many female footballers in the country – I've tried to choose the most talented. Moreover, they have qualification campaigns ahead of them at youth level and this tournament has provided invaluable experience.