U-21 Championship: Draw Reaction

Pierluigi Casiraghi's Italy have been drawn in Group B of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship along with England, Czech Republic and Serbia. After the draw in Arnhem, the Azzurrini coach reflected on a tough group as did his counterparts...

Pierluigi Casiraghi (Italy coach): The two groups are equal because there are eight quality teams involved. I don’t think one team is stronger than any of the others. It’s very difficult being a coach to a player. When you play there is only one side to the game, playing your best for 90 minutes. As coach it is 24/7, thinking about the team, training, matches. It’s my first experience of such an important tournament but I will approach it thinking this will be a great experience for me.

Miroslav Djukic (Serbia coach): The group is very difficult, you could say the favourites are England and Italy, but I believe in my players and I’m sure we’ll do well. The English squad is very good, especially in attack where they have great pace, particularly [Theo] Walcott. We all know Italy, always a hard team to play against, a very competitive team who are strong on the counterattack. We played a friendly against the Czech Republic but this time it will be completely different as there is a lot at stake. We believe we can reach the semi-finals, but know it will be difficult to do so

Ray Clemence (England assistant): Italy have an incredible record so they will be the favourites in this group. There are two teams to qualify and three very enjoyable, but very difficult, games in prospect for England. It’s very, very important to qualify for these tournaments because this is about the development of international players. Moving up at any age, whether you’re 17 or a senior, is always a big step.

Ladislav Skorpil (Czech Republic coach): We didn’t expect an easy draw because of the talent on show. We hope to be good competitors and obviously hope we will qualify for the knockout rounds.