Käld can barely believe Finnish feat

Finland coach Michael Käld was proud, and slightly surprised, after a 2-1 defeat of the Netherlands ensured the UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ hosts a quarter-final slot as Group A winners with a game to spare and hailed double goalscorer Laura Österberg Kalmari. Meanwhile Netherlands coach Vera Pauw admitted her side did not push hard for an equaliser because they wanted to protect their goal difference, which means they only need a draw against Denmark on Sunday to finish second.

Michael Käld, Finland coach
I'm very proud of my team. The result today was fantastic for us and if someone had told me a month ago after the [3-1 home loss to] Sweden that on 26 August we would be champions of Group A, I wouldn't have believed them. We talked about how against Denmark, Northern Ireland and Sweden the first 45 minutes were not so good. We knew Holland would attack, like they did against Ukraine, and we were prepared for that. Then we scored a goal and it was easier after that.

I'm not so satisfied with how we played in the first half because we hit too many long balls from our own half to the Holland defenders and that's not the way we want to play. Even though Laura scored two headed goals today, Laura wants the ball to her feet, then she's strong. I'm also proud that Laura has now scored 32 goals for the national team and that's more than Jari Litmanen, so she is now the Finnish player who has scored most goals for the national team.

Laura Österberg Kalmari, Finland striker & Carlsberg Player of the Match
I'm also very proud of the team, we played a good game. Holland played well and gave us a good game. I'm proud of myself because I scored two goals with my head, and that's not happened so often. Statistics [about overtaking Litmanen] are not that important for me. The most important thing is that we win.

Vera Pauw, Netherlands coach
First of all, I'd like to apologise for the last 20 minutes. We weren't in the game at all, we had no pressure forward and the situation in our group was that if we had got one goal against us, and then another, we would have been out of the competition. With the fact that we hadn't been in the game from the first minute, we decided to go for holding the score [at 2-1] and take out of this game the fact that we were still in the competition. Now, with a draw [against Denmark] or a win we are second in the group.

[We told] the players nearest us and they had to communicate it with the others. I called all the players in straight after game and explained it and now they understand. Of course, they are disappointed about our performance and our loss but they understand that we still have everything in our own hands. It's tournament football. It wasn't a fear [of losing 4-1] it was almost a knowledge. I know my team so well. If you've seen Germany v Holland, where we lost 6-0, it was the same feeling.