England captain James McATEE was satisfied that he saw his teammates together after a substance on the field started on the last whistle after the 3-1 quarter-final victory of the Young Lions against Spain in Trnava on Saturday.
A late, high challenge of Cesar Tarrega on England full-back Tino Livramento led to a furious battle between the teams while both banks cleaned up.
The Spanish Rafa Marin was sent for his share after the final, while McATEE was shown a yellow.
But the captain of England was satisfied with the reaction of his party to the aggression.
After he picked up the player of the Match Award, McATEE said to reporters: “I never saw the challenge (on Livramento), I saw the boys go in, so always go inside to help. It belongs to football and you just have to stay together like a team.
“It's a big game, we know. They are two big teams in the tournament, so they start, we can't lean back and they just let it do it, we have to give them a bit, so I'm happy with the boys.”
It followed a fighting performance from England, where they produced a sparkling period of 30 minutes to go up 2-0 before Spain gave them back with a Javi Guerra penalty.
Spain pushed hard to equalize the second half, but a last-minute spot kick from Elliott Anderson sealed the progress of England.
Carsley, who was involved in the edge in the fight, felt that the passions of his players fanned after full -time.
He explained: “I think there are better ways to build companionship. But I think we had something similar in the final (two years ago).
“Emotions run very high, and in that kind of scenarios you don't want someone to be sent, everyone who throws a blow or gets into trouble. You try to be respectful for both parties, but you can see how much it means for the players.
“To represent your country in a quarterfinals, a lot means. We probably have to give them a little leeway.
“Fortunately it wasn't about the top, but it is still not nice to see. We always try to fly with the flag and encourage younger players, especially to record football and enjoy the game … but the passion was just a bit much.”
The manager of Spain, Santiago Denia, also spoke after the game and said that the behavior of his players did not tarnish their journey.
He added: “You have to know how to win and lose, and although the behavior was wrong, we have to congratulate the opponent – they have won the game well and we tried to quickly separate and calm them because you have to know how to lose. I congratulate the coach Lee while they beat us again.”