Brandt and Hartig savour Germany triumph

Vivien Brandt and Isabella Hartig acknowledged Germany had ridden their luck but preferred to enjoy an "incredible" achievement after prevailing on penalties against Spain in the UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship final. 

Defender Hartig, who wiped out Patricia Guijarro's opener with four minutes remaining and struck the winning penalty, talked UEFA.com through those defining moments as "time stood still". Goalkeeper Vivien Brandt also enjoyed a night to remember after saving two Spain spot kicks yet remained grounded, saying: "The amount of saves I make doesn't really matter." Evidently crestfallen, Spain goalscorer Guijarro attempted to look on the bright side after a "great tournament".

Vivien Brandt, Germany goalkeeper 
It's incredible. We were behind for the majority of the game, yet we never gave up and now to have this cup in our hands is indescribable. The amount of saves I make doesn't really matter – what matters is that the girls put the ball in the back of the net and everything worked out perfectly for us in the penalty shoot-out.

I think penalty shoot-outs come down to luck. Both teams really wanted to win and that is why it was so tight – we just had luck on our side. I always believed that we were going to get a goal and the girls felt that too. These are two weeks that we're never going to forget. They're going to remain in our minds forever; it's incredible. Right now we're going to enjoy the moment and then we've got to start preparing again for the World Cup.

Isabella Hartig, Germany defender
It's amazing, I can hardly believe it. It all happened in a flash so it's going to take time for it to really sink in. Initially, I didn't think the ball was going to come through because there were still players in front of me. When it arrived, time stood still for a second because I was in front of the goal, we were 1-0 behind and it was almost over. If I'd missed it, then we would probably have lost, so I was all the more delighted that it went in.

We're all 15, 16 and this was our first big final and we were all really nervous, especially considering we were up against Spain, who had played really well. It was really hard to respond, but we did it in the end. It's always good to go into a penalty shoot-out when you've just equalised, and we had practised them in training.

I didn't think too much about it – I shot and fortunately it went in. To be honest, I didn't know that it was the decisive penalty. It was my first trip with the national team and I've really enjoyed it. We've got a few months to go before the World Cup. We'll be prepared for it and we'll try to win there too.

Patricia Guijarro, Spain midfielder 
It's true that penalties are a question of luck, but at the same time Germany are a great team. There were periods where we were dominating, but then we got a bit nervous in the second half. We played a good game, we had a great tournament and we have to congratulate Germany on winning the trophy.

It's hard to take everything in right now – you feel angry and annoyed [to have come so close], but we know we've had a great tournament. For me, we've got the best players, the best coaching staff and I'm really proud of my team. For me, this experience has been fantastic and it's something I'd love to have every year. To get to a final is not easy, but we did it.