Little steps will help ease the France hangover
Kim Little says players being attached to big clubs can help Scotland’s women qualify for Euro 2021 in England – and then make an impact on the tournament.
The Arsenal captain scored five times in an 8-0 rout of Cyprus at Easter Road on Friday night.
The scoreline matched the men’s win over the Cypriots in a Hampden World Cup qualifier in 1969, when Rangers striker, Colin Stein, only managed four!
Little, who is now Scotland’s current top scorer alongside Jane Ross with 59 goals, said: “It’s about moving us forward to get a higher level of performance.
“That’s what we need to do to compete at major tournaments and win games. That’s something we weren’t able to do at the World Cup.
“We need to be fitter and be able to play teams at the highest level and not concede goals.
“We’re very capable of it. We have great players, who play at great clubs, and are around others of that level all the time.”
As well as Little, three other Scotland players are at Arsenal – right-back Emma Mitchell, central defender Jen Beattie and winger Lisa Evans.
Three more are at Manchester United, one at Manchester City while Erin Cuthbert, who is injured and couldn’t play on Friday, is at Chelsea.
Captain Rachel Corsie and winger Claire Emslie play at the highest level with clubs in the United States.
The Easter Road win, in front of the side’s highest crowd for a home competitive game – 6,206 – was badly needed.
The build-up was undermined by head coach Shelley Kerr’s admission she and other coaching staff had been drinking at a meal the day after Scotland were knocked out of the World Cup in Paris.
Kerr went on to attend a team debrief which, although intended as low-key, became highly acrimonious, with some players said to be left in tears.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell attended a clear-the-air meeting when the squad met up for the first time since the Paris debacle in Edinburgh last Monday.
Friday’s emphatic win, against a side which had never played a qualifier before, allowed the focus to return to football.
Emslie, Ross and Caroline Weir got the other goals.