Coaches react to Sweden's WU19 EURO triumph
Monday, July 27, 2015
Article summary
"It's like playing against a team with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in it," rued Spain boss Jorge Vilda after Sweden's "polished diamonds" won the WU19 EURO final.
Article top media content
Article body
• Sweden are WU19 EURO champions for the second time!
• Stina Blackstenius smashes WU19 EURO season record, taking 2014/15 tally to 20 goals
• Sandra Hernández raises Spain hopes by making it 2-1 ten minutes from time
• A crowd of 7,230 watch in Netanya, a record for the final in this competition
• Sweden's first title came in 2012 against a Spain team led by Jorge Vilda's father, Ángel
Calle Barrling, Sweden coach
The girls are delighted and have worked extremely hard for this. Many missed out, we lost the WU17 final against Poland in 2013, so to have won this is very special for them. We have three triumphs at this tournament. Winning the title, getting a place at the [U-20] World Cup and also making these finals for the fourth time in a row.
I said stamina was one of our best assets and we looked really keen out there, really keen. It was perhaps an easier game than the semi-final against Germany which had many transitions. In this game I felt we were able to rest slightly more and we were therefore in better control of this game.
It's a pleasure to work with these girls, and I am very grateful to their clubs as they have developed and improved in so many ways because they also work hard at their clubs. They are all diamonds; I just polish them.
Jorge Vilda, Spain coach
I'd like to congratulate Sweden. They are a great team and they have a great player who made all the difference. It's very difficult to deal with a player like that. It's like playing against a team with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in it – when they're that much better than the rest it's hard to get hold of them.
We knew the No9 could punish us so we tried to get a firm grip on the game early on and have a lot of the ball. We also knew that if Sweden got ahead it would be an uphill struggle. We might have been a bit low on energy after our effort against France in the semis but even after going behind we fought on and scored a goal. I'm very proud of them.