Belarus: looking to build

By Eugene Ravdin

Not content with securing his side a berth at the UEFA EURO Under-21 Championship for the first time in their history, Belarus coach Yuri Puntus is aiming to guide his team through the group stage and clinch qualification for the Olympic Games to boot.

Perfect match
The best three teams at the forthcoming tournament in Germany will qualify for Athens 2004 along with host nation Greece and despite being drawn in Group A alongside much-fancied Italy, Puntus is confident. "Believe it or not, but the result of the draw coincided 100 per cent with the choice I hoped for beforehand," he said. "First of all I am glad that we are in a different group to the strong Portuguese team and secondly we will not play against hosts Germany during group stage.

Olympic aim
"I think Italy are favourites in our group, but they are beatable as well as Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia. We can defeat any of our group opponents to secure ourselves a place in the semis, although I have to admit that our primary aim is to qualify for the Olympics. I consider this Championship as a path to Greece. If I had to make a choice between winning the Championship without going to Athens or finishing third and securing a ticket to the Olympics, I would prefer the second option."

Back-to-back wins
Belarus finished second in qualifying Group 3 but made a scrappy start to the campaign, experiencing a very uneasy autumn. An unexpected opening-day success in the Netherlands was followed by a 1-0 defeat at home against Austria and a 3-0 setback in the Czech Republic. But a fine run of five back-to-back wins earned them a play-off against Poland, who were unbeaten in Group 4.

German-based brothers
In Minsk, Belarus had to be satisfied with a 1-1 draw but in the second leg they thrashed a flu-stricken Poland side 4-0 to secure a place in the finals, VfB Stuttgart's Aleksandr Gleb completing the rout with the fourth goal. The Stuttgart playmaker, Belarussian Footballer of the Year in 2002, has made several appearances for the senior side but is included in Puntus' 22-man party for the finals, along with his brother Vyacheslav, who also plays in the German Bundesliga with Hamburger SV.

Team spirit
The squad have a strong team spirit, merging a sense of unity with an agressive attacking style and a tough battling mood. Despite Puntus usually preferring to play three strikers up front, Belarus are at their best playing a counterattacking style. They warmed up for the tournament by defeating Moldova 1-0, Malta 4-0 and brushing aside fellow finalists Switzerland 4-1 in Minsk.

For profile of coach Yuri Puntus click here