Del Bosque hails players as Piqué reveals Spain secret
Monday, June 13, 2016
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Vicente del Bosque praised the attitude of his Spain team, down to substitute goalkeeper Iker Casillas, as we heard from both sides after the holders beat the Czech Republic 1-0.
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Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach
The first thing that's important is to get the three points. The second thing is the players' attitude. Believing in the victory is important for winning.
We created a lot of chances and we hope finishing will not be a problem. We had the game completely under control and that's the most important thing. Everyone wants to score more goals but our style hasn't been too bad in recent years. It's fantastic we have great midfielders and if the forwards have to move, then they have to move and interpret what their team-mates are doing.
Iker Casillas has been exceptional on the bench. He was constantly supporting the team. It's not the moment to talk about who is going to play in the next game, we will see. It is healthy to have debates in football.
Gerard Piqué, Spain goalscorer
Of course it's a massive thing to score the goal that gives us the win, but we all performed very well – we managed to play very well both at the back and up front. If you can play and attack well, that means you open up the pitch and can find a way through, even if the opposition are defending really deep. That's the way you create chances: by creating space.
Pavel Vrba, Czech Republic coach
I am happy we played our first match at the level we did, although Spain played very well. They had more chances and the result could have been different if Petr Čech hadn't made some great saves and if the defence hadn't played as consistently as they did. It is also true that we had three moments where we could have scored.
It is a pity we didn't manage to add more drama to the match. I am a bit disappointed in this respect. However, the players did everything they could and that makes me happy.
I also want to thank all the Czech fans because they are fantastic. I was very happy they supported us throughout the entire match. It is great when so many people come to cheer for us. I want to thank them once again for being with us all game.
Petr Čech, Czech Republic goalkeeper
Losing the game with three minutes to go is always tough. But I thought we did exceptionally well for 86 minutes. We were constantly under pressure, but we managed to block them and to keep the clean sheet almost all the way. But unfortunately their talent and quality is huge, and in the end they managed to get the goal.