Pearce suffered heartache in shoot-outs while a player and as a coach watched his youngsters lose 13-12 after their European Championship semi-final finished level after 120 minutes in Heerenveen.
With players injured and another three knowing they would be suspended for the final, Pearce's youngsters battled their way to within sight of the final.
"They are crestfallen. They gave their lot emotionally and physically. They've sweated blood for the country and it was not quite good enough."
He added: "You want to be out there, it's a small second best being a coach."
Before the amazing shoot-out, Leroy Lita gave Pearce's youngsters a first-half lead before Maceo Rigters levelled with an 89th-minute scissor-kick.
Steven Taylor was injured in the build-up, but Pearce said: "The game carried on, we've got no complaints. The Dutch scored a goal fair and square."
With Taylor limping on and Nedum Onuoha helped off with an injury, England held on during the extra 30 minutes.
"Whether I could have patched up a team for the final, I don't know," added Pearce.
Justin Hoyte, Nigel Reo-Coker, Matt Derbyshire and Anton Ferdinand missed their spot-kicks, but England scored their other 12, with Pearce seeing results after practising penalties after every training session as well as the friendly against Slovakia before heading to Holland.
Holland coach Foppe De Haan stormed onto the pitch to tell the referee Taylor had to take a penalty. The Newcastle defender scored but Ferdinand's miss allowed Gianni Zuiverloon to score the winning spot-kick.
"When their coach raised the point, I was going to agree with him," Pearce said.
"It's the fairest way of doing it. It was the right and proper way to do it. The only thing it did was enhance the magnitude of Steven Taylor."
He added: "We were prepared, for weeks we were practising.
"The ones I've been involved in as a player were about five or six kicks so we were doing something right."
Pearce will now assess his future and sit down with Football Association officials over the possibility of taking the under-21s on a full-time basis.
"Whether it is me or someone else, there is a nucleus to take it forward," he added. "It's down to the FA, but I have enjoyed it immensely."
While Pearce's managerial reputation has not been harmed with a semi-final defeat, he believes it is the players who will benefit from the tournament most.
"The one thing it does is form a bond that I've got with the likes of Tony Adams and Paul Gascoigne," he added.
"You can only benefit as a young player."
