"The World's Best"...? That's just a title that others foisted on me. All I've done is try to express the lifestyle of a "Striker".... completely, perfectly, and instinctually. Being "The World's Best" is simply a result of that. And right now, the biggest threat to me is Loki. In the future, after I've settled things with him... come try to surpass me, Kaiser. I want to fight someone even stronger. To the bone, I'm a Football Junkie!
Noel Noa (ノエル・ノア,Noeru Noa?) is a 31-year-old forward from France who plays on France's National Team and on Germany's Bastard München. Noa is currently known as the best striker in the world and Yoichi Isagi's former idol and mentor. Over a decade ago, he was Jinpachi Ego's former teammate/rival.
He is initially introduced at the beginning of the series, but he officially makes his debut in the Neo Egoist League when he comes to Blue Lock as the master striker and coach of the Germany Stratum, all to train Michael Kaiser into becoming a worthy opponent that he can use to get even stronger than he already is.
Noa is a tall, pale-skinned man with a muscular frame. he has a white spiky buzzcut, and his eyes are yellow with black-shaded eyelids. As a member of the France National Team, Noa wears the standard #9 striped blue and red kit with white shorts, red socks, and red and white cleats. When Noa arrives at Blue Lock, he is usually seen wearing the Blue Lock tracksuit. When playing with Bastard München, Noa dons the #9 black, red, and gold kit.
Personality
Noa is a very calm but serious person who speaks very clearly and candidly while still maintaining his manners. He is described by fellow football colleagues as a cyborg because of his profoundly serious and non-expressive demeanor. He does not like it when his players try to act superior to others and regards it as childish. Noa admits that he does not take into consideration intangible factors like impressions or emotion but only a player's numbers and the results that come from those numbers when picking his team, but if he is inclined to play a player due to their popularity and any contracts he is beholden to, then he will forsake his earlier judgment.
Having grown up poor in the slums of France, Noa has taken his football very seriously from a young age, as it was the only way for him to change his life. Born with nothing, Noa's hunger grew immensely; hence, he dedicated every moment of his life to transforming his future by winning football matches. Among his fellow world-class players, Noa's serious demeanor is seen as annoying by his more expressive and reckless colleagues, as he disregards them and their claims of being the best.
Just because Noa is cold and serious does not mean he is not willing to properly advise and teach his players, especially when they ask him for help, as seen with Isagi. As a coach, he is direct and strict when it comes to training his players, refusing to let anyone play if they don't prove themselves to be truly worthy or take the opportunities to improve their skills.
He has proven to be quite manipulative, as all his instructions and guidance toward Isagi were merely for his own benefit; he used the "Heart of Blue Lock" to push Kaiser into discovering his buried ego. His sole purpose was to evolve Kaiser into a strong enough opponent to make himself stronger by defeating him in the future. At his core, Noa is entirely selfish, as everything he does with his teammates, rivals, and potential rivals is for his exclusive benefit, describing himself as a "football junkie" who desires nothing but to face stronger opponents and continuously evolve from the challenges. Unlike most professional strikers, Noa never aimed to become the world's best striker; he simply aimed to live his football life on his own terms without shame.
Abilities
Archetype
Complete Forward: Complete forwards are strikers with great technical ability, clinical finishing, and physical strength, enabling them to fulfill multiple roles. They can link up with and play in others, fashion chances for themselves, finish off team moves, and hold up the ball. These players are often best given the freedom to play as they wish, without rigid tactical instruction, as their versatility allows them to be fluid on the pitch.
Skills
Supreme Physicality: With a supreme and well-balanced physicality as a base and the skill that comes from being completely ambidextrous, Noa is a player that has unlimited options. He can act as a starter for any play, connect with his teammates, and finish off plays with little difficulty, even when faced against players on par with his skill. He is known as the best striker in the world due to his unlimited options and his hyper-efficient style of play.
Machine Dribble: Noa's dribble style involves him moving forward efficiently with the ball with pure speed and power, leaving no room for error as if a machine were directing his movements.
Ambidexterity: Noa is completely and evenly ambidextrous, with his feet allowing him to dribble, trap, pass, feint, and shoot the ball with either foot at any angle with the same level of power and accuracy on either side.
All-Powerful Shot: With Noa's ambidexterity and his top-tier physicality, Noa is able to make any kind of shot with either foot being able to constantly feint while switching feet and finish a play with a shot that does not lose power or accuracy from using both feet in tandem.
Explosive Acceleration: Noa can reach his top speed in an instant.
Off-the-Ball Movements: A term used to describe the moments where players are not in possession of the ball. Noa uses these moments to position himself in his opponents' blind spots, position himself in a place where he can deceive the opposition and be a decoy for his teammates shots, or to position himself close enough to a teammate to pull off super close back-to-back passing that can break through an enemy's defense. Isagi noted that Noa's movements were executed at such a high speed that the opposing team’s marks couldn't even comprehend or keep up, signifying that they were better than Isagi's.
(His view on teamwork) "Instead of assisting my teammates to win 1-0, it feels better to pull off a hat trick and lose 3-4."[5]
(To Isagi) "You cannot 'not know' something about your own plans. Visualize an ideal situation that you can explain and verbalize completely. 'Not knowing' means there is a dream in your thought process, which is merely noise. And that lack of logic can destroy any plan."[6]
(To Bastard München) "The opposite of a chance is a 'pinch.' If you miss the chance that is in front of you, you will fall into a pinch equal to that missed opportunity. The risk and return are equal. Understand that principle of that unwavering world."[7]
(To Isagi) "Get rid of unnecessary noise. You're too greedy. Streamline your thought process. Think logically. You're not god. In this very moment, what is the one thing that you desire the most?"[8]
Trivia
The majority of this information is from the official Egoist Bible.