Kerr delight as ‘zapped’ players make history
A set of circumstances which Scotland head coach Shelley Kerr had felt sure would materialise duly did – to the unbridled joy of her players and support staff in the Lori Borici Stadium.
Ever since the win over Switzerland last Thursday, Kerr had been telling anybody who would listen that the Group 2 top seeds would fail to beat Poland in their simultaneous last game.
And so, set against the magnificent backdrop of the Albanian Alps, it came to pass. The performance on the day was somewhat laboured, but neither Kerr nor her players were concerned about that after the team qualified for a historic first Women’s World Cup.
Two minutes before the final whistle it was confirmed that Switzerland had failed to win in Poland – it finished 0-0 – and the two results left Scotland on top of Group 2 for the only time since the qualifying campaign began last September. They can now look forward to next summer’s finals in France while the Swiss contemplate the play-offs.
“You could see our energy was zapped tonight after the win over Switzerland on Thursday night and the pitch here wasn’t great,” Kerr said. “But that’s why I knew it would be the same for the Swiss against Poland.
“The team are going to celebrate for sure because they deserve it – it’s not every day you get to a World Cup, is it? Nothing compares to this. I’m delighted for all the players, the organisation and all the other people who support us.
“We had seven or eight good chances, we’ve hit the post again and we should have made it more comfortable but I’m not going to dissect the performance.
“The whole week has been so tense and I’ve tried to keep calm as a coach. I’ve just told the players to try to win the games and they’ve done it magnificently.”
Top scorer Jane Ross, who
0 Scotland head coach Shelley Kerr was confident of success.
was left out of the starting line-up for the previous two games, returned, while Manchester United’s Lizzie Arnot was also given her first start since returning from an ACL
injury in April. Christie Murray and Claire Emslie dropped down to the bench.
With the home side expected to get as many bodies as possible behind the ball, Scotland’s game plan was to stretch them on both flanks and it didn’t take long to pay off. After nine minutes of probing, Lisa Evans got clear on the left and sent over a cross to the far post which Arnot sent back into the paths of Kim Little and Erin Cuthbert. The Arsenal captain claimed it and crashed a volley past Viona Rexhepi.
It looked to be a non-contest as the Scots created chance after chance but they lacked the sharpness to take advantage. Rexhapi was also doing her part to keep Albania afloat and made a terrific double save from Cuthbert and Ross six minutes after the goal.
The pattern continued until the half hour when the Albanians, who looked woefully slow at the back, started to find some confidence. They found an equaliser just before halftime, only minutes after Rexhepi had made an even better save from Emma Mitchell, Megi Doci sending a low shot past Lee Alexander, who had been redundant for most of the 45 minutes.
Left back Mitchell came even closer with a shot which hit the post and Cuthbert drew out another fine save from Rexhepi, but it was starting to look fraught midway through the second half when the muchneeded goal finally arrived.
Caroline Weir took a freekick which was diverted back into the path of Ross and the striker scored her 57th, and most important, Scotland goal.
After that there was no way back for Albania, who spent most of the remaining time pinned back in their own half before news filtered through that Switzerland had been held by Poland and two minutes later Scotland had booked their place in the 2019 World Cup.