Signeul refuses to point finger as Scots crash to Euro defeat

Scotland head coach Anna Signeul refused to blame individual players after her side’s crushing 2-1 defeat by Portugal.

Striker Lana Clelland missed two great chances before Portugal took the lead midway through the first half. That goal came from a counter-attack with central defender Vaila Barsley badly at fault.

“We lose as a team and that’s important,” Signeul said. “We’re not blaming individual players in any way here.

“We should have been up 2-0 at one point in the first half and unfortunately we couldn’t put the ball in the net. It’s also an unlucky first goal, but it puts us on the back foot in the game.

“We came back into it in the second half and of course we have to try to throw everything forward – then we are done on the counter.

“I think we deserved at least a 2-2.”

The second Group D defeat left Scotland at the mercy of arch-rivals England.

Their win over Spain last night means the Scots could still scrape into the quarter finals if they beat the Spaniards by two or more on Thursday night and England beat Portugal.

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