Draw keeps Group B rivals on their toes

Spain coach Juan Ramón López Caro and his Germany counterpart Horst Hrubesch acknowledged there was plenty of room for improvement after the sides played out a goalless draw in Gothenburg in the opening round of Group B matches at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. While López Caro believed his team needed to do more in possession, his opposite number warned Germany – for whom Mesut Özil, twice, and Ashkan Dejagah spurned golden second-half opportunities– that they had to make their chances count.

Juan Ramón López Caro, Spain coach
The match was two completely different parts. In the first half we were better and created more chances. In the second half we made too many mistakes in our passing and were caught by German counterattacks, but overall the draw was probably a fair result. Germany showed a lot of discipline. We were too sloppy but they played well as a team and we all know that this is quite a physical German team.

We don't focus on individual players – we'd rather see our opponents as a collective group. We base our tactics on that, rather than on individuals, so we didn't give Özil any special treatment. I don't speak about individual players but about the team. There were some positive moments up front but we need to continue working hard and I'm sure we'll have more positives in the future. I can't change the way we play – this team has a personality and that's how we play. We only need to change a few details.

Horst Hrubesch, Germany coach
I'm not totally satisfied. We showed Spain too much respect in the first half – they were strong opponents but we should have been more attacking and acted like we did in the second half, when we created good scoring opportunities. Overall I'm not completely happy, but it's a decent start against a strong team and I'm looking forward to the next game. I saw the first goals [from England v Finland] but I couldn't concentrate, I was too busy thinking about my own match. Now I have time to watch it and analyse it in preparation for the second game.

Dejagah and Özil had the best chances and of course they're unhappy they didn't take them. This team is always able to score and next time maybe they will get some goals. The most important thing is that we continued to create chances and it's a draw between two strong teams. If you'd offered me that before the game, I'd have taken it. Özil is hard to describe as a player. He has near perfect skills, can play at pace and play on the left or right. The only thing missing today was a goal but I'm convinced he'll have a good tournament. He's an important player for the team and he's one of the most perfect players I've ever had.