Under-21 Group A reaction

Jakub Dovalil, Czech Republic coach
I don't think there was much choice, I'd say that both groups are equally difficult. Opponents who have got to this stage deserved to qualify, so we'll see how we cope with it. It's definitely a difficult group. Our disadvantage is that we didn't play the qualifying matches, but we'll be playing at home so I'm sure that our players will do their best to win.

I don't know if I'm optimistic: our goal is to qualify from the group and get to the Olympic Games. Germany are very strong, we can see their quality in both the national team and the Bundesliga. Serbia eliminated the defending champions; Spain and Denmark didn't lose a single match in qualifying. So it will definitely be difficult.

Horst Hrubesch, Germany coach
It's eight top teams and two groups; I can say that I am OK with our group. We will participate at the tournament, and we want to play for the title. We want to travel there to secure qualification for the Olympic Games, but also to fight for the title – nothing has changed. In our first match we will play Serbia, and then we will straight away know where we are. But we are ready to take that on – we know that we are happy to be part of this tournament, trying to fight for the title.

We know the Serbian team, and we will analyse them further, but there is no easy opponent in our group. Denmark are not an easy team to face, they made it through qualification and the play-offs convincingly. To play the host at home here in Prague will be challenging and enjoyable. There is no objective other than the title considering the quality we have in our team.

Jess Thorup, Denmark coach
Before the draw I said that Germany are maybe the strongest team of the eight. So now we're in a group with them, I'm not happy about that. The other two teams I don't know that well, so I have to go home now and prepare for them, and I look forward to coming back in June and playing against them.

We're happy to be in Prague, but playing against the Czech Republic is very difficult. Serbia won against Spain in the play-offs, so it's a very difficult group, I would say.

Radovan Ćurčić, Serbia coach
We are primarily proud of ourselves to be among these eight teams. These are all high-quality teams, we make no difference between them. There's a new period of proving ourselves lying ahead of us; a great opportunity to see where we stand against our opponents. Really, really tough matches lie before us. We have respect for our opponents, but we believe in our qualities and we believe we will get through the group stage.

Germany are the favourites to win this tournament, they have a really good team. The second match is against the Czech Republic, who have an excellent generation of players and also the advantage of being the hosts. However, the games we have played against Italy, Belgium, and the play-off match against Spain, showed that Serbia can deal with all opponents – including Germany, Czech Republic and Denmark.