Spanish pride in 'positive experience'

Bright future
Ignacio Quereda's squad contains many players who will be eligible for this tournament in coming campaigns, but it was one who will not, striker María Paz, who spoke for the rest when she said: "I won't be able to play at the U19 championship again but otherwise this is a very young team and they can look forward to achieving things in the future."

'Positive experience'
Mari Paz scored Spain's first goal at these finals – in Friday's 2-0 win against Poland – but was unable to add to that during the decisive 1-0 defeat by England. There were tears at the final whistle on Monday, but looking back on the competition, the 19-year-old told uefa.com: "It has been a really positive experience – it was the first time we have played in a European Championship like this and it has been exciting to be here. It wasn't to be in the end against England, although we gave everything we had and played well against them. We just couldn't get a goal.

'We did our best'
"Personally, I gave absolutely everything I had – as to whether I played well or not, that's for other people to decide. I tried to help the team and I think we all did our best. I did score against Poland, our first goal of the tournament, but I would have preferred to score on Monday to help us get through. England were physically stronger than us, but technically I think we did well against them and dominated possession."

Senior goal
The next challenge for this tough little forward is to break into the senior international side. She said: "My goal now is to play for the full national team. Next season I am with Levante [UD] in the top women's division in Spain. I am from Galicia but living in Valencia. I'm learning a lot from playing there – and I have done the same here."