With her Flemish accent that she has not lost since she was at LOSC, Belgian international Jana Coryn made a splash last season in D2. With the rise this year, the attacker who made her first matches with Lille in the elite of French Football feels the difference in level. She gave us her feeling about the gap between the two divisions and we also talked about her debut in Belgium and the selection.


"LOSC really supports women's football."


Football Hearts - So does the snow fade in Luchin? (Interview conducted Wednesday, December 6, after the cancellation of the match LOSC / Paris FC Saturday, December 2)

Jana Coryn - Yes she melted, but she stayed all weekend so we could not play or train. It's only since Tuesday that the snow has melted.


Hearts of Football - At LOSC, there were some Belgians (internationals) who passed as Hazard, Origi, Mirallas, Desmet or Vandenbergh. But you are the first Belgian international to sign at LOSC (before the signing, Jana Coryn played in Super League, equivalent to the D1 Feminine and scored 19 goals) You are three Belgian today with Demeyere and Coutereels.

J.C. - Yes, among women. And Hazard is also a Red Devil, so we're both international.

Yes I was in contact with the LOSC when I was still playing in Belgium. I had played the Belgian Cup and that's when they saw me. I had scored twice and then they were looking for someone. After they still needed someone in the middle and they saw a game of Silke [Demeyere]. With Silke we live not far from each other and we've known each other for ten years, so I asked her if she was interested [by the LOSC project] and I introduced her to the club. Then the club needed a defender and as I knew Maud [Coutereels] who played Standard and selection with me. And on her side she was also looking to play outside [Belgium]. As Lille is not so far from where she lived, I advised her to come with me.


Football Hearts - So I know that your home town Waregem is in Flanders and that the language is more Dutch (not English?). How did you come to learn French?

J.C. - I learned French at school and then in high school too and as I love French and France, I decided to become a French teacher and a sports teacher. I went on to university and today I have a master's degree in French. After I could play in Germany but as I speak more French than German (ed) I chose Lille, because it was not so far from home either, France.


Football Hearts - Last year when you joined the French club, you told LOSC.fr that your goal for your season in D2 was to score more goals. We can say that you arrived there with 24 goals in 23 matches (including 22 as holders).

J.C. - Yes because in Belgium I had already accomplished everything in my opinion. I played in the best teams, I won the Cup because the championship was the grip of the Standard. We were one or two points behind the leader. I was top scorer [elite championship]. And when I came to Lille as an attacker, my goal was to score goals to help my team.
Yes (smile) I passed last season [my goals record].


Football Hearts - Can you say that your best goal in D2 despite the 1-6 defeat against Juvisy (Paris FC today) was against the Ile-de-France club? This magnificent resumption of volley from the left, which ends full opposite skylight.

J.C. - Yes, I was told about it last week because we had to face Paris FC. We had lost, but I still remember my goal. Yes it was beautiful, and it was good left so I was happy."These are defeats against these teams, which are expensive at the end of the season."


Football Hearts - At the beginning of the season, we contacted the coach, Jérémie Descamps and Camille Dolignon, your team mate, to discuss your first season in D1. And we knew that there were really two plausible scenarios, a good start and the return to reality or a false step before perhaps succeeding in raking. We can say that we are more on the first scenario, after your beautiful victory against Bordeaux 3-0, before seeing your ardor calmed. How did you experience this beginning of the season? What are your challenges today within the group?

J. - Yes, we started well. We were motivated, we are always motivated. Nobody thought we could start with such success against Bordeaux. It was the best scenario to start in fact. After came matches against Soyaux or Albi for example, where we lost points that are valuable [with the prospect of this season]. We had to win and we could win. These are defeats against these teams, which are expensive at the end of the season. These are points that we lose, and that we must not lose yet. When we score, and we take a goal behind it is hard to return to the score. These are games that are played on details I think. And we still need to gain experience so that instead of losing 1-0, we win 1-0. Today we still have two difficult matches and we have to catch the match against Paris FC (Wednesday, December 20th) but we will try to scratch some points and if possible to win because we lost points against teams, we had to win.


Football Hearts - How did you live this early season in the group then?

J.C. - We were very happy to be in D1, everyone wanted to know the D1 (some of Lille have already played in the championship elite) and we are always motivated. But I see that there is really a difference (nervous smile) between the D2 and D1 (this is his first year in the French elite). But I thought there was more gap between the teams, not to mention the top 3 (OL, PSG, MHSC) but for clubs like Albi or Soyaux against which we can always compete. It's important to earn points, and the group knows it too. We know how to win, but we must be 100%, otherwise we lose important points.


Football Hearts - What are your challenges after losing and losing points? What did you say to yourself?

J.C. - It's like the coach said, it's about details. You have to have some experience in certain situations. Like when you take a goal after two minutes of play in the second half. It's the concentration I think or details. Because we play well, we have a good team, we have a good game but it lacks goals in front. You have to be effective in front but also effective / solid behind, so we try to work that to improve after every game.


Football Hearts - Is not the homogeneity of your team, the fact that you have a very similar style and a similar physical size almost each other - except Ouleye Sarr can be - who do you play no tricks today?

J.C. - (smile) Yes we are not great in the team, but I do not think it's a problem because we have other qualities. And since Ouleye [Sarr] is great, we have to use that too, so maybe we need to pick up our best qualities and use them.


Hearts of Foot - You have to win in spite?

J.C. - What is needed?


Soccer Hearts - Need to gain power in your game?

J.C. - Yes, but we worked at the beginning of the championship, the duels we had to win ... So we tried to work "the power" and in athletics, we try to gain muscle. We work well but you can not change [your physiognomy] in a few weeks. You need work for that.


Hearts of Football - Is this "shift" that was mentioned after PSG / LOSC (defeat 1-6 it will score the only goal of Lille) it still feels today according to you, for you and the team?

J. - In D2 the level is completely different I think, because it is more rhythm in the game [the D1]. When you have some chances in [D2], but you miss one it's not that bad because you know you'll have two or three more. But now [in D1] we sometimes have only one occasion or two and we have to transform it because otherwise if we take a goal behind, that's it, we lose the match. When you do not score, it's difficult because in D2 you knew that even in the 90th minute, you could still score. There we try also [in D1] but before we always knew that if we give everything, we win the game. And in D1, we give everything but it's really the details that make us lose and on this point it is necessary to progress. Then the quality of the players is better in D1 too.

Soccer Hearts - All right. So is it mentally also that you have stagnated or regressed because it is more difficult too?

J. - (thinks) Mentally I think the difference is really big for me, because now we score fewer goals. So the last matches where we take goals, we have the pressure a little because as an attacker you have to score to help your team win. And if I do not mark, I'm disappointed. As in Guingamp where I had two opportunities that I should have realized, because if I mark them, we win this game. (white) When they scored, it was hard to come back.


"It's also a sacrifice we had to play the players."


Hearts of Foot - It can be said that the "joy" and "ease" of winning everything in D2 has left room for the "reality" of the elite. The coach talked about the sacrifices you made for this climb. What were they?

J.C. - I will not say that in D2 it was always easy. But in D1 you never know what will give a match, like our 3-0 win in Bordeaux, then lose to Soyaux ...
Everyone gave each game, completely, and everyone was for the team. We worked a lot together and everyone had the same goal. The club had given the goal of the top 3, but we the players wanted the climb. There were a lot of sacrifices. All the girls were there every day to train and even on vacation, we had to get in shape for the matches. Even the case with La Roche, we did not decide to play on the papers [on appeal with the FFF] but to replay the game again. But we knew that if we were forced to play it again, we would win it again. It is also a sacrifice that we had to make the players.


Football Hearts - To talk about your game. You are a player who likes to play on speed and I noticed that your leg movements were symmetrical to your arm movements to make smaller steps but can be faster. Where do you get that from?

J.C. - Yes I do not know (smile) because I never noticed that (laughs). I learned that when I was doing athletics before football, where I had to use my arms.


"Foot for me are also emotions."


Football Hearts - Okay, and on the pitch you also have a very expressive look, which exudes a lot of character. What is it hiding?

J. - I am always in the game. I am an open book as they say sometimes. You always see my expressions. If I'm angry you see it, and if I'm disappointed you see it because Foot for me it's also emotions. I play with my heart. I always want to win, you do not play to please [in the elite]. And I'm so happy when we scored and disappointed when we lost. At Guingamp, I was sad because I know that at the end of the season it's a result that can work against us ...'Women's Football in Belgium' does not get enough money

and he was not really integrated [in the minds] '


Football Hearts - There are clubs today where you played that closed in Belgium. What are the reasons for this?

J.C. - Yes. Because travel was expensive. Women's Football in Belgium "does not get enough money" and it was not really integrated [in the minds]. Now it's better, but many times the clubs decided to stop their women's section, and I had to change teams. When I was at Lierse (the previous Lille club) we were almost champion, we finished second and we won the Belgian Cup. Fortunately that at that time I already had contacts with Lille and I had already decided that I was going to leave, because a week later they decided to close the women's section. The President did not want Women's Football. That's why coming to Lille, was a good decision also because you know that the club really supports women's football. They gave a lot of money last year and they managed the situation against the ESOF (about the four points removed for a player who did not have a valid license in France).


"It's difficult for an attacker, because in the articles, that's what you see first."


Football Hearts - What's left to develop or improve in your game according to you, for your first season in the elite of French football?

J. - I think that in my duels I have to strengthen myself, because in front of the top 3, you tell yourself that it is not enough finally. Efficiency too. When I have three opportunities, you have to be effective from the first. And I try, we train for that too. But that's true for all the attackers, because when you do not score, you're not a good attacker. It's difficult for an attacker, because in the articles, that's what you see first.


Soccer Hearts - Does technically also have a progression to have? It's not a quality that you like the technique or I'm wrong?

J. - (she is perplexed) Because here I do not have too many actions. I first take the speed as the first quality and then I'm doing [technically]. This is where you can see, as you asked me earlier, that I did not play with the boys. And that's the basis, because I only started playing football at 10, and I missed 5 years maybe in boys (because there was not enough girls in the youth teams). It's in these categories that you learn and have better coaches / trainers. When I started between the ages of 10 and 15, I played in the region and with a coach without a diploma, just for fun. When I was 15, I knew that I could play higher, even my parents told me that I had talent and that this club was not the most appropriate to progress. And that's when I decided to change to a more professional club and there I learned to be more technical. But I know it's not my best quality. After I did futsal stages to improve this point. In match I use more my speed than my technique, even if I have, you do not see it (smile) but if I want to put it forward more than anything else, I know that I can do it.


Soccer Hearts - Because of the snow last weekend you have lost a bit of rhythm. Now you will link three matches Montpellier, Soyaux and Paris FC Wednesday, December 20. These are big confrontations to finish this phase go?

JC - Yes we know, but hey it's like I said, we will try to keep the draw first because we already earn points and if we can score to win more points, it would be good . We work there, even if with the snow we could not train, but we worked the physical anyway. We have confidence, now we just have to win a match to do good to the group I think.
After each game, we try to improve and better prepare for the next match and so on.


Hearts of Foot - In D2, you really had a state of mind of warriors, that you have left a little in this beginning of season of D1 one has the impression of the outside. How do you explain it? You apprehend the level? Yet there are players who have gone through the D1 in your group (Rachel Saidi or Ouleye Sarr and Elisa Launay).

J.C. - Yes, that's it [we have former D1 players]. Last season we had to win everything at home and we wanted to keep that in D1, because it's half of the matches and if you can win them you already have points. But outside we knew it would be difficult, but we do our best. We are preparing well, it is just missing a match with which we must earn points.Soccer Hearts - You are ninth now, it's not the red zone but you should not fall asleep?

J.C. - Yes, sure. We have difficult games now, but we will try to collect points and we'll see.


"The finals against Wolfsburg, Lyon or PSG,

These are confrontations that you want to play as a player. "


Football Hearts - So I know that one of the next Champions League final may be in Liège in 2020. The city has been a candidate. Is this a goal for you Europe club?

J.C. - You always want to play those games. You have to be realistic for the moment. With Lille it is still far but in a few years, we do not know where we will be and I would like to get there. The finals against Wolfsburg, Lyon or PSG are confrontations that you want to play as a player.


Hearts of Foot - There are many talents that are emerging in Belgium, one has the impression?

J.C. - Yes, it is now starting to move in Belgium and there are many hopes that try to impose themselves today. I saw him at the last rally with the double confrontation against Russia. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are talented young people who show themselves without any complexities.


"It was our first games in a Euro

in the history of Belgium "


Soccer Hearts - To evoke selection. I would like to come back to your journey to the Euro. You finished 3rd synonym of elimination behind the Netherlands and Denmark in the group stage, but ahead of Norway anyway. What do you remember from this European experience in selection? Can we say that you were close to the feat?

J.C. - Yes yes it's true [we were close to it] because Denmark and the Netherlands played our place in the quarter-finals and we won against Norway. We were in a raised group. So we were happy to win against Norway (2-0). But we just started badly [against Denmark, 0-1], we were too defensive. We wanted to defend first and if we had a counter-attack, to use it to open the scoring, but it was not really our game. So for the second game, we thought we were not going reproduce this system and play as we know how to do, even if it's against Norway. After we saw that it happened [with the win 2-0]. So the third [against the Netherlands] did it too, but maybe a bit too much because it's a strong nation and we took both goals [before reducing with the goal of Tessa Wullaert 2 -1]. It was our first matches in a Euro in the history of Belgium so it's a start. We learned a lot from this experience and today we take all this for qualifying matches for the 2019 World Cup. We still have games against Italy and Portugal to get there, in March / April.


Football Hearts - Now your personal goal is also to be an indisputable holder in selection?

J.C. - Yes, that's for sure, I give it all to be and match. Facing Russia in friendly, I made the pass so I'm happy.


Soccer Hearts - In 2015, the boys climbed to the top of the FIFA rankings. This is a goal that remains much more difficult for girls today. What are your next challenges in selection? The 2019 World Cup in France?

J. - The Federation has decided that there should be more young players starting Football, because we see that it is in these categories that we learn the most. At the Euro, we saw more and more girls playing football, and that we were examples for them. Now the Federation has also seen that Women's Football begins to develop and provides the means in this direction.

You see that it starts to take and I tell myself that we have made good progress in recent years as well. When the Red Devils (male) took on popularity, we wanted that too for Women's Football. There are a lot of documentaries that have been broadcast in this way, a lot of TV channels have come. You see it's moving now. We have more and more spectators in matches and it's really great to see this excitement around the national team and Women's Football.


Photo: LOSC.fr