Hopeful sign for Scots as power nations run flat
Hope. The single biggest take- home message for S cot l a nd f rom t he se European Championships.
And not just from their own performance in their last game to beat Spain.
More from the shift away from the power nations who were expected to dominate but didn’t.
If we’ve learned anything from the past three weeks i n Hol land it ’ s t hat preparation and innovation can go a long way in women’s football to counter population and wealth.
Germany, Sweden, France – none made the semis. Norway didn’t even make it out of the groups. They were all shocks.
A l t h o u g h Ho l l a nd beating England to make today’s f inal was only a shock to England.
The Dutch are a quality side and anyone who knew anything felt England stood little chance of winning.
Even if Mark Sampson told you otherwise. I’d be staggered if the Dutch didn’t beat Denmark in Enschede this afternoon.
It has been a great showcase though. We’ve seen invention, different tactics and it’s true that if the top teams didn’t perform well, the preparation b y sma l le r nations has worked a treat.
Austria are a great example. Like Scotland, t h e y we r e playing in their first major tournament.
I wouldn’t have given them any chance of winning a game, never mind reaching the semis.
But they’d done their homework. Their planning was spot on and they found a way to overcome.
That should give Scotland hope going forward.
Fiona Brown told me last week the Scotland players didn’t realise how big the tournament was until they got there. That’s maybe why it took them until game three to settle down.
When they did, they got a 1-0 win against Spain who are a fantastic team.
If they’d put in that performance from day one they could have made it out of the groups.