Corsie hails ‘good draw’ but wary of Spain threat

SCOTLAND captain Rachel Corsie says she is happy with yesterday’s 2023 World Cup draw.

The second seeds will play Spain, Ukraine, Hungary and Faroe Islands in Group B.

“It’s a really good draw,” Corsie, who plays for Kansas City in America’s National Women’s Soccer League, said. “Spain are going to be extremely tough, but all the teams in Pot 1 are.

“Spain are now considered one of the top teams in the world and they’ve improved a lot recently as they have talented young players who are becoming more experienced. I think that’s reflected in how well teams like Barcelona are doing in the Champions League.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice in the Euro qualifying campaign and we want to come back and prove we can do better this time. There were no teams we didn’t want in the draw.”

The qualifiers start in September and run for 12 months with the winners of the nine groups qualifying for the finals in Australia and New Zealand. The runners-up will go into play-offs, with the top two also qualifying for the finals and a third given the opportunity via the confederation play-offs.

Games against Spain hold very mixed memories for Corsie. She was in the side which won 1-0 in the final group game of Euro 2017, with Caroline Weir scoring the winner in Deventer to give Scotland a first-ever major championship win.

The central defender was also involved in a 1-1 friendly draw at Falkirk Stadium, but the bitter memories, both personal and for the team, happened in the two play-off games for the 2013 Euros.

Scotland looked certain to be heading to a first major championship on away goals with the scores locked at 3-3 near the end of extra time in the second game. But a winner in time added on gave Spain victory, with Corsie’s participation ~having ended earlier when she suffered an ACL injury.

The 31-year-old has also played against the other three teams in the group, scoring three goals in a 16-2 aggregate win over the Faroese in 2015 World Cup qualifying.