Govedarica salutes Serbia achievement

Dejan Govedarica was breathing a sigh of relief after Serbia withstood a second-half barrage from Belgium to reach the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-finals, claiming second place in Group B behind Spain. Ginés Meléndez had cause for concern as a much-changed Spain side slipped to a 3-0 defeat by Turkey, whose coach Kemal Özdeş had wildly contrasting emotions, while Belgium's Marc Van Geersom looked back with pride and forward with optimism.

BELGIUM 1-1 SERBIA
Dejan Govedarica, Serbia coach
It was a tough game, Belgium were great opponents. We started well and got in front but in the second half we got a little tired and retreated back a little further than we had agreed in the dressing room. They pressed us a lot in the second half, maybe we dropped deeper than we should have done but that was because they put us under pressure. We had some chances on the counterattack but couldn't take them and that's what made it a nervous end for us. We were under pressure in the last ten minutes but we survived and we've made it.

Marc Van Geersom, Belgium coach
We let in a goal after five minutes but we certainly had enough chances; in the second half we were dominant but the ball wouldn't go in. The big problem we had is playing with ten men against Spain and Turkey. Today we managed to stay with 11 and you could see the difference because we could play in more attacking fashion. I really think this has been a good year for us; we've only lost against Spain and won or drawn all the rest of our games. I'm proud to have worked with this squad for two years. Today we had four or five players who were born in 1993 and that's promising for next year. Now we start again – that's the life of a youth coach.

TURKEY 0-3 SPAIN
Kemal Özdeş, Turkey coach
I am both sad and happy. It would have been fantastic to have had a rematch with Spain in the final because I believe we were the two best teams here, but I wish all the best to the semi-finalists. I'm very happy with the improvement of my players during the period we spent together and I congratulate them on a very good performance in the last match against one of the favourites for the tournament. Reaching all the goals that were set in the beginning makes me happy but I'm sad we failed to crown it. Now these players will advance to the U21s and I wish them all the best; Turkish football's future is bright with them.

Ginés Meléndez, Spain coach
The first thing we must do as sportsmen is to congratulate our opponents tonight. They played a fantastic game while we weren't at the level required. Turkey have a very good team. We're not looking for excuses; they played better than we did. We didn't get into the game in the first half and when we scored an own goal it changed things completely. It took us a lot of effort to try to control the midfield and just when we thought we had things under control with the changes we made, they scored a second. From then on it was a different game. Every one of the guys in the squad can play. Every one of them is a necessary part of the set-up. We just weren't united tonight; we weren't ourselves. In every tournament you get a bad game and I'm hoping this was ours.