Thomson says Algarve Cup has been mission accomplished for Scotland

Scotland assistant head coach Andy Thomson believes the Algarve Cup has fulfilled its function of sharpening up the players ahead of the World Cup. The Scots play Denmark today in a game to decide who finishes fifth and sixth in the 12-team tournament.

“Before we came out here the key thing was the first two games,” the former QPR and Partick Thistle striker said. “Playing Canada was about seeing how we fare against the best teams.

“We wanted a performance, and if we got a result then great. Unfortunatel, with eight minutes to go, we let that slip by conceding a penalty.

“Getting a result in these type of games is something we still have to learn – especially at the World Cup – but the performance was good.

“Winning against Iceland was key and we did that so we fulfilled the requirements from the first two games. The players were excellent and what pleased us most was the possession football with chances – and taking the chances.”

The 4-1 win, with Manchester United winger Lizzie Arnot scoring her first two Scotland goals and the third, scored by Kim Little, the outcome of a high class build-up, was up there with the best since Thomson and Shelley Kerr came in after the Euros.

Players will now have to be rested against Denmark today because they will have had less than 48 hours to recover from Monday’s win over Iceland.

“The most important thing is looking after the players because it’s difficult to recover in two days,” Thomson confirmed. “Denmark are in the same boat. They played on Monday as well so they will have the same issues.”

The Danes were losing finalists at Euro 2017 but failed to qualify for the World Cup, partly because a game against Sweden was cancelled due to a dispute over pay and conditions.

Today’s final is between Poland and Norway. The Poles are the lowest ranked side in the tournament yet beat Spain 3-0 and European champions Holland 1-0. 0 Lizzie Arnot: Scored a double in the 4-1 win against Iceland.