Belarus unfazed by Europe's leading lights

They may have been handed a daunting UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship group-stage draw, but coach Dmitri Shevchuk sees no reason why debutants Belarus cannot "beat the favourites" and reach the semi-finals.

'Unpredictable'
After seeing his side pitted against five-time champions Germany, the much-fancied French and resurgent Switzerland in Group A, Shevchuk conceded his players would have their work cut out when the competition begins on 13 July but refused to concede all hope. "We were hoping to avoid Germany," Shevchuk told uefa.com. "I wanted to be in a group with Sweden and Iceland because I know we can beat them, but youth football is always unpredictable so we still have a chance to beat the favourites. It's always more interesting to play against the best teams and I'm curious to see how our Belarussian girls get on."

'Promote the sport'
With the country staging its first major European finals, the spotlight will be on Belarus, who have a healthy record in men's youth football but are yet to shine in the women's game. "Women's football is obviously not as popular as men's football in Belarus," Shevchuk said. "It would be nice if the country paid more attention to women's football and if more girls played the sport, and the European Championship will help in this respect. It will promote the sport and increase its popularity. We'll just do our best to play well and live up to our fans' expectations."

Injury problems
Shevchuk is relishing the opportunity to upset the odds, although preparations have not been ideal. Having qualified automatically as hosts, Belarus have played fewer competitive games than their rivals, and could also be missing two key forwards – Tatyana Kiose and Anzhela Lapusta – through knee injuries. "I have only general information about our opponents at the moment because I haven't seen them play live," Shevchuk conceded. "But considering the way Germany, France and Switzerland play I think we will need to have a different plan for each game. We'll make sure we are as well prepared as possible when the tournament begins."