Spain coach slams England behaviour in final

Santi Denia, coach of Spain's Under 21 side, spoke after his side's loss to England (1-0) in the final of the Under 21 European Championships, and said that "values come above any result", refering to the his opponent's behaviour, which he believed was provocatory.

"Since I became part of the Federation (of Spanish Football), I was taught certain values: respect your opponents and play a clean game. From there, you can win or lose, but the values come above any result", he commented.

"I'm not going to make any declaration about the behaviour of the English players", he continued in the press conference, while his statements to 'Television Espanola' proved to be much more critical, in regards to the English footballers.

"We wanted a clean game. If the other players don't want to play cleanly, we as the Spanish National Team have to present an image. They provoked us but our boys managed it. It's not easy to deal with those kinds of provocations", he declared.

Santi Denia preferred "not to comment on the referee" because he does not consider that his performance "was decisive for the result".

He also said he was "proud of the whole squad" of the Spanish U21 team, who have "worked in an extraordinary way", and praised his team's style of play.

"If we were going to get the equaliser, it was thanks to the game. The team kept believing and creating chances, trying until the last minute. We are going to continue believing in this type of play and from there the results will come, or not, but this is the model in which all the coaches of the Federation participate," he assured.

 

July 8, 2023