Stange raises Belarus's ambitions

Belarus pulled off the surprise of the first round of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers with victory away to France, even if the gloss was dulled a little by Friday's goalless draw against Luxembourg. With their Under-21 side through to the 2011 UEFA European U21 Championship play-offs as well, there is plenty for coach Bernd Stange to smile about ahead of Tuesday's Group D meeting with Albania.

UEFA.com: How high in your career would you rate your win against France?

Bernd Stange: I would say in the top ten. It was a big win; a good start in the qualifying campaign for a small football country.

UEFA.com: Were you satisfied with the subsequent 0-0 draw at home against Romania after beating France away?

Stange: Of course not, but four points out of six was a good start. Our players aren't mature enough to quickly get over a great result and focus on the next games. Our players needed too much time to recuperate from that win in France and then reality hit home in the game against Romania. We should have won that.

UEFA.com: With the Under-21s also through to the play-offs, what is the cause of the recent wave of Belarusian success?

Stange: It is real teamwork. A small country of 10 million people, an association that is only 15 years old. Fifteen years ago, Germany had already been World Champions three times and this small country had only started to exist as a football nation. There are other things than EUROs and World Cups. Firstly you have to build the infrastructure: this country needs pitches, we must train coaches, we must develop youth football.

During the Soviet period there was only one successful team in the whole of Belarus: Dinamo Minsk. Everything needed to be developed. When you play in your stadium against England or France, people tend to forget we are the same as the others. That is why it is tricky, but we are very proud to have achieved that as a team.

UEFA.com: What is Belarus's goal in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying?

Stange: They are young players, 23 to 25 years old and we have to tell these young lads that they must win. They must try to win in France, in Romania; you want to go to the EURO, in our neighbouring Poland and Ukraine. Try it! It was a good start. Try to be first at Christmas, try to be in top spot next summer, that's the objective. Maybe it's unrealistic, but you have to dream a bit. You must have a dream, and our dream is to be part of the EURO with this young Belarus team. We will try our best.

UEFA.com: Belarus have done very well at Under-21 level recently. Is that beginning to bear fruit for the senior side?

Stange: It already has had an influence. There are six players from the last Under-21 European Championship in our squad, and three or four of them are regulars. Our current Under-21 team is in the play-offs against Italy. It's a great milestone for our country. These are great achievements. We are proud that all our national teams play according to one philosophy, there is a clear line and one academy, and we try to enforce that in all our national teams.

UEFA.com: How good is your Russian?

Stange: [Replies in Russian] I live in Minsk. I speak Russian with the players on the pitch, and in individual discussions. I only use an interpreter for press conferences so journalists understand exactly what I say, which is very important. But with the players, people at the association and people in the street I speak Russian and I live for more than 300 days a year in Minsk.

UEFA.com: What does the future hold for the Football Federation of Belarus (BFF)?

Stange: The first objective is to build facilities and pitches. Every month we inaugurate a new pitch, an artificial pitch, a small stadium. Secondly the training of coaches: we need a lot of coaches. Thirdly we need to develop youth football. The national teams are still a bit behind what they can achieve. They don't have a training centre, [there is] no medical centre for our national teams. We have great ice hockey venues, that's the No1 sport here, but we must build football stadiums.