Spain Under-21 boss Albert Celades has reflected on his side’s surprise 2-1 second-leg play-off defeat to Serbia in Cadiz.
The result means Spain will not defend their European Championship title in the Czech Republic next summer and will also miss out on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“We gave everything but in football the best team does not always win. They had two shots on goal and scored twice,” Celades [pictured] told reporters post-match.
“I thought we played well and had a lot of the ball, but it did us no good. It’s very hard to take because we did not deserve this outcome.
“We tried to resolve things right up until the last second but could not turn things around, so we are left with a bad feeling and the dressing room is really down because these guys have given everything.”
Celades was asked about his future as Coach of the Under-21 team.
“It is not the time to dwell on that in the heat of the moment. I’ll have to think about it, reflect on things and see what conclusions we draw.
“It’s a shame we didn’t qualify and that we met Serbia in the play-offs, as they are a great team, but the format is the same for everyone and we knew what it would be like before we started the qualifiers.
“I’d like to repeat that sometimes in football the best team does not always win. The players are broken,” he admitted.
