Berntsen buoyed by Norwegian win

By Pete Sanderson in Preston

Solveig Gulbrandsen's majestic strike in extra time finally saw off Sweden in an enthralling semi-final in Warrington, and earned Norway the right to meet Germany in Sunday's UEFA European Women's Championship final at Ewood Park, Blackburn. Hanna Ljungberg had twice cancelled out goals from Gulbrandsen and Isabell Herlovsen before the Norway midfielder had the final say in the 109th minute. uefa.com caught up with both coaches after the game.

Bjarne Berntsen, Norway coach
I am very pleased and satisfied with both the performance and the result. The only thing I regret was it was too tough a game and we only have two days of rest to prepare to play the best team in the world. My players are very tired but at the same time they are so happy. I am very proud of the attack which clinched us the game and led to our final goal. It was a beautiful goal and one my players will probably want to watch again and again. I thought Sweden made it very difficult for us. You cannot leave a player of Ljungberg's class in the box as we did and she scored two great goals. Against Germany we will have to look closely at the players to see if they are fit enough to play; the Germans are very fit, although we can take heart from the fact that we played our best game in the tournament against them in the group stages. It will be very difficult to repeat that, although we will not use tiredness as an excuse. You have to accept Germany are big favourites but I really believe we can win this tournament.

Marika Domanski-Lyfors, Sweden coach
Obviously I am deeply upset but I thought we played a fantastic game. Admittedly, we did not win but we played a great game and showed we have a tremendous team. I think the team can learn a lot from this experience and hopefully under the next coach they will go one better and win the final. This was my last game so it was a very emotional occasion for me and I wish Norway the best of luck in the final; I think they can win on Sunday after this. They have a wonderful team who play great football and were the better team tonight. Football is all about scoring goals and they were more clinical. It does not matter how you play – it is all about how many goals you score. I thought we played very well and we created a lot of chances, maybe enough to win the match, but we did not take them and their goalkeeper was excellent. I have some great memories of my time as coach, and although this hurts, the performance of my team tonight will be one of those memories. I am very sad right now. I told them I am proud of them and I have been proud of being the Sweden coach. I think this Sweden team will go on and win this tournament one day. I am so proud of them.