Old Enemy to open the show
PASSIONS will be riding as high as ever when England and Scotland face off in a Battle of Britain clash at the Women’s European Championship finals in the Netherlands next summer.
The fierce rivals are set to meet in the opening Group D game following Tuesday’s draw in Rotterdam for the 16-team event, the biggest Euro finals tournament yet staged in its 32year history.
Spain and Portugal are also in Group D, but it’s the pairing of the two British teams that has got pulses racing among the English and Scottish players, as well as fans on both sides of the border.
England captain Steph Houghton knows from experience what the July 19 game in Utrecht will mean to the Scots as they step into a major tournament for the first time in their national team’s history.
Celebrate
Manchester City defender Houghton was on the England substitutes’ bench at the 2011 Cyprus Cup, when Scotland’s 2-0 win was their first against the auld enemy for 34 years – and came after 17 successive defeats!
“The Scots girls played out of their skins that day in Nicosia,” recalled Houghton, “and credit to them. They were the better side and deserved the win. They certainly did celebrate!
“Jen Beattie, who was at Arsenal with me at the time and who’s now a team-mate at Man City, scored a brilliant goal and she’s been reminding me about it since the draw for the Euro finals was made.
“We’ve also got Jane Ross at City and, after her great qualifying campaign for Scotland (Ross hit 10 goals), I’ve told our strength and conditioning coach to work her into the ground before the finals!
“There’s been lots of banter between the English and Scots girls at the club. They’ll be des- perate to get one over on us at Utrecht, but we’ll be every bit as determined as them to come out on top.”
Another ‘divided’ Super League club since the draw is Liverpool, where Scotland’s Caroline Weir has been shouting the odds against England players Alex Greenwood and Siobhan Chamberlain.
Midfielder Weir, last week named the Reds’ Player of the Year, said: “The jokes have been flying around among the girls and I’m sure it will carry on in the lead-up to the finals – but then it will get serious!
“It will be fantastic to be part of a Scotland team going into our first major tournament and, from all the tweets I’ve been seeing since the draw was made, we’ll have lots of fans coming over to watch us. “We’ll have the backing of the whole nation and everybody will definitely be up for the game against England. They’re a top team and did really well at last year’s World Cup, but that won’t faze us. The passion we have as a nation will show.
“We’ll be confident, and on an historic day for Scottish women’s football I think it will be a great spectacle that will, hopefully, end in our favour.”
Progress
Whichever team wins, each will then have games against Spain and Portugal to determine which two sides progress into the quarter-finals.
Scotland head coach Anna Signeul has set the task of reaching the quarters at least, while England boss Mark Sampson’s stated aim is to win the Euro trophy after last year’s World Cup bronze.
Neither Houghton nor Weir, however, will make any predictions. “We know our targets,” said the England captain, “but we’ll not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve got three tough group matches to consider first.” Weir added: “We’ve had draws with Spain and Portugal in the last couple of years and they’re both good teams. Although we know what we’re aiming for, we also know it’s going to be difficult.”