Heiner-Møller frustrated by Finland draw
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
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Struggling to absorb the fact that Denmark must now rely on other results to remain in the tournament, Kenneth Heiner-Møller nonetheless took pride in his team's cultured display.
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Kenneth Heiner-Møller, Denmark coach
I am not in the greatest of moods but I am still a proud coach. The team delivered everything that I asked of them. They played the Danish way, the kind of football we are renowned for – that's who we are. We sit here with just two points and have to wait for the rest of the teams to finish their games.
I'm very, very disappointed with the result but extremely proud of the way we played. I'm now hoping the other results go our way. The way we attacked the game, showing courage throughout, and took the game to our opponents made me very happy. We made them run, playing our usual passing game. I was not overjoyed with our finishing [as] we created so many chances to score, which is disappointing.
It's always difficult when you've created lots and come away with nothing. We know [Annica Sjölund] is a great player and great in the air. We nullified her for the majority of the evening but on the final set-piece we lost her. She is a super player and no matter how long you try and keep her quiet, she will always find a way. It was a good goal.
We have high hopes that both France and Spain can do us a favour. They have a huge responsibility to play to their maximum and win their games. They must do their bit.
Andrée Jeglertz, Finland coach
Of course I'm disappointed. We followed through our plans for the game and worked extremely hard. We believed beforehand that we could win and we were not that far away in the end. Unfortunately, the draw is not enough for us to qualify for the quarter-finals. This was our best performance of the tournament and overall we have played well in parts.
The defence has played with courage despite conceding five goals against Sweden, which were mainly from set-pieces. We needed to excel up front and I feel we lacked a cutting edge in that department. We deserved a point for the way we fought. They had more possession and created more chances, but the way we worked as a team and tried to affect the match was impressive. The result was a fair one.
The players gave their all and worked extremely hard. I'm very proud of their performance but it's difficult to speak to them at the moment because they are so disappointed that during the three games, we have not picked up more than two points.
We have a good set of players and two extremely good goalkeepers, two of the best in Europe in my opinion. Minna Meriluoto's performance was very good, she exudes calm and is brave in the penalty area. Overall, she was excellent.