Denmark coach Bordinggaard keeps the faith

Denmark are ready to do it the hard way at this UEFA European Under-21 Championship – that was the message from coach Keld Bordingaard after the hosts' 1-0 defeat by a Xherdan Shaqiri-inspired Switzerland on the tournament's opening night.

Goalscorer Shaqiri was the name on both Bordingaard and opposite number Pierluigi Tami's lips in the post-match media conference in Aalborg. However, the fact that Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer also took the plaudits enabled the Denmark coach to declare that his side would be approaching their remaining Group A assignments with hopes of progress still high.

Keld Bordinggaard, Denmark coach
The game opened up patiently from both teams and we didn't create enough in the first half. The only one who did was Shaqiri – a player like that normally doesn't need as many chances as he did today. But from the moment he scored we created enough to tie the game. Sommer in the Swiss goal had an outstanding game, as Shaqiri did, and that decided the game.

It is going to be very tough now for the semi-finals but it's not impossible. We created enough and if we keep doing that we can win games. The next game against Belarus, who won today, is going to be crucial. Maybe our finishing could have been better but I was impressed by Sommer who stayed on his feet and read the finish. Ultimately they needed fewer chances - they didn't create as many but built up the game very cleverly.

It's a huge disappointment with such clear chances but I have talked to the players and I think they responded the right way to this defeat. We are all convinced we can still reach the semi-finals. That we still created the chances to draw, which I think would have been the right result, makes me quite confident that we can do it.

Pierluigi Tami, Switzerland coach
Naturally I am delighted with the result and the performance. We controlled the game for about an hour, we worked really well both in defence and attack. Then during the last half-hour Denmark threw everything forward and were very dangerous from set pieces in particular.

It was a tough game as expected but in the end our goalkeeper made sure of the win for us with some great saves. Xherdan Shaqiri is a great personality and he gives us a lot of quality. I am delighted with him. It was a difficult game for him because of the pressure on his shoulders but he worked both with the team and for the team. You saw him have a lot shots on goal and in the end he scored an extraordinary goal.