"We've improved a lot. It's been great for a lot of my young players," the Brazilian told Reuters after his side reached the semi-finals, losing 1-0 to holders Brazil on Thursday.
"It's their first competition at this level. That makes me very happy. It has been excellent preparation for the World Cup."
"We played very well and it was great for our confidence," Santana said. "We showed good discipline and great defence against a team who are five-time world champions and it was always going to be a difficult match."
"My task is to prepare the team for the World Cup. We did well against Brazil, we had a good 60 minutes against Spain (in the group stage) and we did well against New Zealand," said Santana.
"Now I have my squad, I know all the players and their abilities. There are two or three positions that need improving but what is important is that we have many more testing matches ahead of us."
"These matches will help us grow even more," Santana said.
