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UEFA WOMENS UNDER 19: Pilard reeling after France's 'cruel' blow

/noticias.info/ France coach Stéphane Pilard described Sunday's elimination from the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship as "a cruel failure" after the hosts were held to a 1-1 draw by Norway in the decisive Group A encounter. Pilard's disappointment contrasted vividly with his counterpart Jarl Torske, who expressed delight at Norway reaching a second successive semi-final yet was not entirely satisfied with the performance, warning that an improvement will be needed against Germany on Wednesday.

Jarl Torske, Norway coach
I'm pleased to be through to the semis. To get a draw against France in France was never going to be easy. But if the result pleases me, the performance didn't really. The two teams lost the ball too easily and I felt that we were inviting France on by playing too many square and backward passes. We were in control but when you get near the end of the game the girls can get nervous and start missing simple passes. We conceded corners too easily as well. All credit to France for the way they finished the game, but we could have coped better.

We will have to improve against Germany. I felt as though we were under pressure today because we would have been disappointed to go out. When we play Germany they will be the favourites so hopefully we can see a better Norway performance. We played a friendly against Germany recently and lost narrowly, but there were some positives in that game that I will look to take into the semi-final. I said to the girls before the competition that our aim should be to improve on our performance last year, when we reached the semi-finals. If we succeed in eliminating the hosts and then beat Germany, we'd certainly deserve our place in the final.

Stéphane Pilard, France coach
I don't know what to say. The party has fallen flat. Maybe the tactics were not right, but I think the problem was more mental than anything else. We miss a few leaders in the team. Technically, our players are very good and we pass the ball about nicely, but there's nobody to rally the troops at important moments. This is an extremely cruel failure. We didn't want to leave the competition with regrets but that's exactly what we have.

We knew what to expect from Norway – they were ready for us and again we conceded from a set-piece. It's frustrating because I feel as though we need to score a goal before the team really starts playing to its full potential. That was the case against Italy and the same thing happened today. We pushed hard after the equaliser but it was too late. I decided to leave Julie Machart on the bench because she seemed a bit tired and I felt she could make more of an impact coming on. We've shown our limits this year and I hope the girls will learn some lessons and become stronger players for the experience. notas_de_prensa_archivo