De Sart looks to the future

If anybody had expected Belgium coach Jean-François De Sart to be downbeat after Belgium bowed out of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship they would have have been sorely disappointed.

Heads held high
Belgium lost 2-0 to favourites France in their final Group 2 game on Tuesday to surrender their final hopes of progressing in the tournament but De Sart held his head up high at the post-match press conference pointing out that, despite the defeat, Belgium had actually played their best match of the tournament.

Tactically disciplined
"Tactically we [were] extremely disciplined," he said. "Every player filled out the responsibility I had asked of them and despite losing the players can take a lot of pride from the performance they produced tonight."

Bright future ahead
The former RSC Anderlecht player took over the reigns of the U21 side two years ago when Belgian football seemed in the midst of its biggest crisis ever. However with Robert Waseige's troops having qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals in Korea/Japan and De Sart's side only just missing out on the U21 semi-finals, the Red Devils could be heading towards a bright future. "We accomplished the objectives we set ourselves for this two-year period," De Sart said after expressing his overall satisfaction with the Belgian campaign in Switzerland.

Sunday haunts Belgians
"Apart from the first half against the Czech Republic we have proved that we deserve to be at this level," De Sart continued. "It was not today we lost our heads, it was on Sunday against the Czechs although once again today we conceded a goal from a set-piece. This simply can't happen." De Sart also seemed surprised by the intensity of the pressure France put his side under. "I knew that they would come at us like a freight train but that they would pin us to our own half for so long was a surprise," he admitted.

Busy night for Gillet
Belgium goalkeeper Jean-François Gillet had an incredibly busy night and produced a series of miraculous reflex saves before finally having to surrender to the French pressure. "Yes, it was an intense night but I had a good start in the match and that was the key to my performance," Gillet said. "We all have to move on now and I think that most of us will be able to make the breakthrough to the next level. There's been tremendous solidarity within this group and I hope most of us can become a part of the senior national team in the years to come."