TOULOUSE, France -- Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba said he was proud of his players despite their 1-0 loss to Spain in Toulouse on Monday.
An 87th-minute header from Gerard Pique broke the Czechs' resistance as they suffered defeat despite an outstanding display from goalkeeper Petr Cech and his defenders.
"Two minutes more," Vrba said. "It's disappointing to concede a goal late on. We had chances, which doesn't often happen against Spain. I am very happy with my players."
Vrba paid tribute to Cech, saying: "I think Arsenal did a very good job buying him from Chelsea."
Defending champions Spain piled on the pressure, and dominated possession, and looked as if they were going to have to settle for a point.
"The Spaniards are very good, I have to say that," Vrba said. "We played at our maximum level and it's disappointing not to get a point at least.
"Our idea was not to allow them to get into our area. We gave everything. I don't think we will have to defend that much against the other teams."
Czech Republic have Croatia and Turkey to play in their remaining Group D matches.
Andres Iniesta was awarded man of the match, and Vrba said he had known what to expect from the Barcelona playmaker since 2000: "I first saw him in Israel in the under-17s and he was an outstanding player then."