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Meinert sees room for improvement for Germany

Germany coach Maren Meinert was happy if not content after a 1-0 victory over a dogged, determined Spain side in Bellaria secured progress as Group B winners with a game to spare.

Eunice Beckmann of Germany scores under pressure from Spain's Eztizen Merino
Eunice Beckmann of Germany scores under pressure from Spain's Eztizen Merino ©Bongarts

Germany coach Maren Meinert was happy if not content after a 1-0 victory over Spain secured top spot in UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship Group B with a game to spare and with it, a place at next year's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Maren Meinert, Germany coach
I am happy because our initial aim at this tournament is to qualify for the World Cup and we're the first team to do that. It's always a great pleasure to be among the last four teams in the tournament, with two wins in what is a hard group so we've done OK. Overall it wasn't a good game for us – Spain played well but we didn't. As long as we're winning I'm happy but tomorrow we will review the game and talk to the players.

Our understanding of fair play means we'll give our all against the Netherlands. For sure, I have players who haven't featured yet who are desperate to but I don't know how many changes I'll make. The one thing I can guarantee is that we'll give our all. [In terms of ability] we have a pretty even squad here which means it isn't always easy choosing who starts, even if I have named the same side in our two games.

Ángel Vilda, Spain coach
What was the main problem today? Germany. There are a lot of positives to take from that. Only once have Spain beaten Germany – in the 2004 final – and today we were very close to getting a draw so I'm very happy and proud of my combative players. The full-backs were both substituted before the hour through tiredness – they, like the rest of the team, put in a huge effort today.

Our main objective is to get to the World Cup finals in Uzbekistan so there should be no doubt that in three days we'll be giving our all to get what we came here for. Norway are always one of the leading nations in women's football. Physically they're very strong and nowadays they also have a lot of footballers with technical quality – the combination of the two makes them very strong. They're also the youngest team in Italy.

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