Noë leads Belgian resistance

Anne Noë may have won plenty of honours as a player, but leading Belgium in the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship will be a step into fresh territory.

'Beautiful experience'
The former goalkeeper won six Belgian championships at Standard Fémina Liège, including a domestic double as player-coach in 1989/90. Since 1994 she has worked for the Belgian Football Association, and coaches the senior women's team as well as the juniors, but participation in the U19 finals in Switzerland is a big step forward. "It is the first time we have qualified for a tournament, so it will be a beautiful experience for the staff and players', Noë told uefa.com. "But looking at the group I think that just like the Netherlands at the [FIFA] World Cup, we are drawn in the group of death."

Strong opposition
Indeed, Belgium play three nations well used to competing in major European final tournaments: Denmark, Germany and Sweden. "They are all teams we have played against in past years," Noë added. "I think that just like my players I will try to enjoy our presence at the tournament as much as possible. But don't be mistaken, at the same time everyone will be super-motivated by being part of such a big event. We'll try to offer as much resistance as possible."

'Spirit and motivation'
So what will be her tactics? "Fighting spirit and motivation will be the key," the coach said. "Our first task will be not to concede any goals and to try to score a goal with a counterattack every now and then. It might be in our favour that we do not rely on one or two stars, all our players are equally matched and that might help team spirit, which could be the key for us."

'We are underdogs'
Noë makes no secret that it will be tough, explaining: "We will have to fight hard for every point, and every point at this tournament will be a victorious one. Obviously we will try to go as far as possible; in football the strongest teams do not always win their matches as expected. But looking on sporting grounds, in preparation and experience, we are underdogs. I think the other teams were happy to have us in their group, but maybe that also can work in our favour if we are underestimated by the others. If with a little luck we could still make it into the semi-finals then that would be a huge success for Belgian women's football."

Senior boost
Admittedly, Belgian women's football does need a boost. While the youth team overcame Ukraine, Wales and the Czech Republic to qualify, Noë's seniors have lost all of their seven 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup matches and will finish bottom of their group, so the coach hopes a good performance in Switzerland will have future benefits. "Although obviously we have the healthy ambition of getting as far as possible in this tournament, it is also magnificent looking at the experience one can get," she said. "Looking at it as a senior coach I hope that from this group of 18 a number of them will stand up and say from their own motivation: 'OK, we have experienced this and now we will make the step next year to the A team to get Belgian women's football a step higher on the ladder again'. It's not only the experience, but also finding that extra motivation to do something more."