Cuvelier wants Belgium to bounce back

Having led Belgium's ultimately futile fightback against Spain, captain Florent Cuvelier is backing his side to respond quickly to losing their opening fixture in UEFA European Under-19 Championship Group B.

The Stoke City FC midfielder beat Spain goalkeeper Edgar Badia with a powerful drive less than a minute into the second period, cancelling out the 15th-minute penalty from Spain captain Pablo Sarabia following an incident in which Belgium goalkeeper Koen Casteels was sent off. Although three goals in the final 25 minutes finally ended the Belgian challenge, their captain still found plenty of reasons to be positive.

"It was a very tough game, but you expect that when you get to this stage of the competition," he told UEFA.com. "All of the teams are able to play good football and give you problems. If it had been 11 v 11 it would have been a completely different game. Even with ten men we had some chances to go forward and I don't think Spain really expected that. The result's a bit unfair but we fought hard until the end so that's pleasing.

"I'm pleased we showed such spirit although that's normal," he added. "With 11 players or ten you have to work hard until the end of the game. That's your job, it's why we're here. You have to make sure everyone keeps working, even against a team like Spain where it's annoying to have to run after the ball the whole time. You have to keep going because it's part of the game; when you watch Barcelona, you don’t see many of their opponents give up."

Reserve goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski was introduced following Casteels' dismissal and agreed that unity and teamwork had kept Belgium in the contest, explaining: "We knew beforehand it would be tough, and Spain are obviously a good team. They moved the ball well and had lots of chances; we tried to play in a defensive unit and then hit them on the break. The red card changed it but we fought hard. That's the mentality you have to show in every game; you have to be aggressive in a positive way and try your best."

Belgium were level for 20 minutes after Cuvelier's fine strike, and Kaminski was left to reflect on their inability to preserve that position. "At half-time the coach told us to keep playing our way, try to get the equaliser and then keep it at 1-1," he said. "When we scored everything was possible; there was 45 minutes left and anything could have happened."

The KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen custodian took pride in his solid display following his unexpected opportunity, saying: "You don't expect [to come on after 15 minutes] but as a goalkeeper you have to be ready for anything. It's difficult to come on without warming up but I tried my best and I'm happy to have played. Now we have the next game and we must look to do well there."

Next up are Turkey, and Cuvelier is clear on what will be required. "There's just one thing we have to do: win the game. That's it; do our best and try to get the victory. I don't think we need to do much differently, maybe concentrate more on corners and free-kicks. We just need to play our game and I'm sure we'll have a good chance."