A look at the ranking in group F of the World Cup qualifiers immediately says a lot about the next two assignments of the Red Flames. On Thursday, Armenia should be no more than a warm-up for Belgian women’s football. Armenia has no points after four matches.
Next Tuesday, Poland will be a different story. After four matches, Belgium is third in the group with 7 points, Poland is second with one point more. Norway is the leader with ten points and big favorite for the group win, which results in a direct World Cup ticket.
Passing Poland in the battle for second place – which entitles them to jump-off matches – is therefore the task. “It is necessary against Armenia and Poland”, Laura De Neve realizes. “Poland has grown in recent years, but so have we. We have to be able to handle them.”
“In Poland (final result 1-1), we created opportunities and we could have won. Organizationally it just has to be a little better. There is no pressure, but every player knows individually and as a team what to do. Only with six at six we can be satisfied.”
Hopefully the match against Armenia can serve as a tasty starter for Poland. A good performance on Thursday would wash away the bitter taste of the 4-0 defeat against Norway a month ago.
De Neve was missing against Norway due to an injury, but she also knows that the heavy defeat has arrived. “That was a knock and it put us back on the ground, but now we have to focus again on what’s coming, because with negativity you don’t win anything.”
“I also thought the result in Norway was exaggerated. With a little more efficiency on our part, we could have scored.”
