Delighted De Haan wants more

Despite the Netherlands achieving their pre-tournament objective and qualifying for the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, coach Foppe de Haan is looking for more from his improving side. A 1-0 victory in their Group B decider against Italy, sealed through substitute Daniël de Ridder's 74th-minute header, means the Dutch will play France for a place in the final on Thursday, while the Azzurrini are left to reflect on missing out on the knockout stages for the first time since 1998. uefa.com hears from the coaches.

Foppe de Haan, Netherlands coach
The goal for us today was to win because we wanted to play in the semi-finals, and that was our aim before the tournament. After the bad game against Ukraine we were left with a big problem but we regrouped and rediscovered ourselves. We played very well in the first half, the idea was to play 3-4-3 with the wingers dropping inside to help and we did that very well. Demy de Zeeuw was the real motor of the team and the only thing we lacked was creating big chances. At half-time I saw that the trainer of the other team looking angry while I had a good feeling.

They didn't do too much and we played with plenty of energy. If you look at our performances they are getting better. We have a few days' rest before the semi-final against France - they have an extra day which is a pity. It will be a good game between two good teams, but maybe they are a bit better than us at the moment. They have a lot of quality and won yesterday by playing almost a second team. We have done what we wanted to do in this tournament but you should never be satisfied with what you have.

Claudio Gentile, Italy coach
We didn't play for the draw and our start to the game showed that. In the first half we were never in trouble, it was just one moment which decided the game. Also in the second half when they had the majority of the possession they never created any chances; Gianluca Curci never had to make any saves. After their goal we created two clear openings which we missed - one of them would have been enough to have us all speaking about a different outcome. I tried to change the team during the game and my players responded to that. We gave everything but it wasn't enough and we were a bit unlucky. We have to accept the result because we know in football that sometimes just one small thing can change everything.