Olsen sees bright future for Faroese football

The Faroe Islands may have lost their first three FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but national coach Lars Olsen is confident that a bright football future lies ahead.

Defeats by Germany (3-0), Sweden (2-1) and the Republic of Ireland (4-1) have left the Faroe Islands bottom of Group C but these results do not tell the whole story about the progress made under Olsen since he succeeded Brian Kerr at the helm almost exactly a year ago.

"There are many positives, but our overall objective is to improve from game to game," Olsen told UEFA.com. "The Faroe Islands are a small football nation, and we have always given it a good effort. Where I want to see some development is when we have the ball. We should not be afraid of having the ball when we get it. We should keep it a bit better, and not keep giving it to the opponent, which results in even greater pressure."

Captain of Denmark's EURO '92-winning side, Olsen now has to deal with the third smallest population of any UEFA member association. With only around 6,000 registered footballers to choose from, Olsen is realistic. "The players who represent the Faroe Islands are very proud," he said. "The Faroe Islands are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where it rains a lot and it's very windy. I just hope that there are a lot of young Faroese boys growing up now and having a better education within football, and are developing better as players."

View the video above for the full interview with Olsen.