England say fitness key in Scotland rout

Lionesses next to play favorites Spain at women’s Euro

A day after their triumphant entry into the women’s Euro in the Netherlands, England players said Thursday their 6- 0 thrashing of Scotland was due to fitness they had built up over the past year.

“We know as a squad how hard we’ve worked in the last year since qualifying and the last six weeks we’ve been in camp,” England’s most experienced player Fara Williams said.

“We’ve really dug deep into areas that some players had never been before to get into the shape that we’re in now,” added the 33- year- old Arsenal midfielder with over 160 international games under her belt.

In the Group D opener, Jodie Taylor scored a hat trick while Ellen White, Jordan Nobbs and substitute Toni Duggan added one apiece to set a record margin of victory in tournament history.

“It was a fantastic way to start the tournament but let’s not be naive – it’s Scotland’s first, maiden tournament, we know that we should be smashing teams like that anyway,” said Williams.

“The level of fitness and the experience of competition is massively different.”

“We just showed our dominance throughout the game. It shows where we’re at, I think we set a good standard yesterday,” said Williams, who spent the game on the bench.

Her 23- year- old teammate Nikita Parris, who came on as a substitute on 65 minutes, agreed that fitness training was crucial under Welshman Mark Sampson, who took England over in 2013 and led them to bronze at the 2015 World Cup.

“Our fitness level was so much higher than Scotland, we just came out and pressed them, put them on the back foot and they just couldn’t handle it,” the Manchester City striker told AFP.

“We knew we had to start quick, start fast, get near their goal.”

She had only words of praise for Taylor and her “great composure on finishes.”

“It’s been a hard year for Jodes at the start of the year, she had a few injuries, but as you know, her quality is never in doubt,” said Parris.

She added the team would make sure to sign the ball with which Taylor had scored and give it to her – something Taylor had asked for after the game.

“We’ll make sure we’ll sign it because it’s a special moment and it’s the first time an Englishwoman has scored a hat trick in European finals, so I’m so happy for her,” said Parris.

England are next facing Spain, who cruised past Portugal 2- 0 in their opening game on Wednesday.

“Spain’s a very difficult opponent, we played them not long ago in a friendly and it was 2- 1,” said Williams, who did not conceal her confidence. “Me personally I think our fitness will shine through and you’ll see a similar result in the game to what you saw yesterday.”

Parris said she expected a hard game against Spain, tipped as favorites to advance to the quarterfinals from Group D alongside England.

“Spain are a team that like to keep possession of the ball. We have to put pressure on Spain, more like what we fought Scotland with,” she said.