Dovalil delight after fortune favours Czechs

Czech Republic coach Jakub Dovalil congratulated his team for not panicking but admitted they had a "lucky ending" with the two late goals that stunned England in Viborg. His England counterpart Stuart Pearce felt his side's elimination was the price they paid for failing to beat Ukraine in their previous game.

Stuart Pearce, England coach
We are disappointed to go out at this stage. I felt if we'd won tonight our momentum would have taken us on to the final, but credit to the Czechs, they've been fantastic in qualification and when people were talking about Spain I pointed out they were a particularly good side. They were very difficult and dogged to break down once they knew a point would do them.

We probably should have done slightly better on the edge of the box [for the equalising goal] but you have to keep focused. Teams go right to the end, we did that against Spain and the Czechs showed that. Credit to them – we have to take it on the chin, we have to learn and go on next season. We are hurting quite badly, we are disappointed but you have to be humble and congratulate the people who've put you out of the tournament.

I thought we played pretty well tonight against a side that banked up against the ball and made it difficult for us. We opened them up on several occasions but didn't have the doggedness to stay in the game and see out the victory. I was more impressed today than against Ukraine – I was a little bit disappointed then but probably the team themselves were more disappointed than I was.

Our performance in the first two games was maybe where it cost us, particularly not playing so well against Ukraine. But sometimes people don't realise the magnitude of our group campaign – a team's gone through from the other group with two defeats.

Jakub Dovalil, Czech Republic coach
I think the game was 50-50 with a lucky ending for us. It was a great game from both teams with a dramatic last minute. It is a really good feeling – sometimes you make good changes, sometimes bad changes. We sent on two attackers and they're both good players. The No19, Jan Chramosta, was making his first appearance in this championship and he decided the game. It was very important for us that even when we were losing 1-0 we did not panic and we got lucky in the last minute.

England were strong opponents with very good, quick players, but we stayed very tight in defence tonight. The players knew at half-time that Spain were leading 2-0 against Ukraine; we wanted to be proactive in the second half but maybe that was playing on the players' minds.

I know Switzerland did not concede a goal and scored six in the group phase, but tonight we were fully concentrated on this match against England and from tomorrow we will start to prepare for that. They're a strong team, though maybe not as strong as Spain.