Santisteban cheers another success

Spain coach Juan Santisteban was in celebratory mood after Daniel Parejo's first-half goal ensured his side became the first team to win the UEFA European Under-19 Championship two years in succession, securing victory against a tireless Greece side in Linz. The triumph also makes Santisteban the second coach to win both UEFA youth titles in the same year after Brian Kerr achieved the feat with the Republic of Ireland nine years ago, and was his eighth European Championship success in his 19 years in charge of his country's youth sides. For Greece's Nikolaos Nioplias, meanwhile, there was pride in defeat as he reflected on a fine campaign for in Austria.

Juan Santisteban, Spain coach
Three months ago we won the U17s so this is the second tournament victory for our country and for me personally. It was a very difficult tournament, all the teams were very strong and the level was very high. The final, as I always say, is a match in which we never play well – you just play to win. We played a great Greece side, they were a bit fresher than us as we played 30 minutes more in the semi-finals. I liked their team a lot, but we had some good luck today – and that's what decided it. In general we've played quite well at these finals and the most important thing with a final is not to lose – and that's what we’ve done.

Nikolaos Nioplias, Greece coach
It's a shame when such important games are decided due to a technical mistake from our goalkeeper, but without mistakes there are no goals. I want to give my thanks to the whole team. We’ve been together for a year and a half and we know what we've achieved. We played against a Spain team that is very well formed at this level, it's no coincidence they won the U17 title a few months ago – but we were great opponents for them tonight. What gives us pleasure is the real effort the team put in; if we look at the number of chances we had, with a bit of luck the result could have been different. Spain are very professional, they got in front and they played to keep their lead. We've had a very, very good season and the two best teams in the finals got to the last match. We felt that nothing was impossible, with hard work you can win a lot. I can have a lot of pride in this team, we deserve that.