Sampson: Lift the trophy and be legends forever

ENGLAND manager Mark Sampson wants his players to ‘make history and change the next 50 years’ of women’s football when they kick off their European Championship campaign tonight. The Lionesses open up against Scotland in Utrecht, Holland, and winning a first major tournament is a genuinely attainable target. Sampson’s team is packed with experience from a bronze-medal win — as the top-performing European nation — at the World Cup two summers ago. ‘The message we’re giving the players is these three weeks will change the next 50 years,’ Sampson said. ‘Three weeks of hard work and we’ve got 50 years to live as legends. We’ve got three weeks to make history and live the rest of our lives as champions and as winners.’ That process starts at the Stadion Galgenwaard. Injury-hit Scotland are 11-1 outsiders for the game and will be relying on their star striker, Manchester City’s Jane Ross. ‘It’s probably the biggest fixture when I look at it,’ said England captain Steph Houghton. ‘It’s a massive game and there’s a rivalry, but our concentration is on ourselves and we’ve got to make sure we produce.’ Striker Fran Kirby added: ‘We need to lay down a marker to start with — that the World Cup wasn’t just a one-off. We need to show we are here to win.’ Scotland’s squad is missing Arsenal’s Kim Little and Manchester City’s Jen Beattie through injury. Captain Gemma Fay said: ‘We’ve faced adversity, but we’re a tight unit and we’ll face that head on.’