Scotland to face England in World Cup
SCOTLAND women’s coach Shelley Kerr is preparing for a difficult but exciting first game against England when they make their World Cup debut in France next summer after being drawn in the same group. Japan and Argentina complete Group D.
“It’s a very, very tough first game, and a very tough second game [against Japan],” Kerr conceded. “But when you’re a manager you want to compete on the world stage. That’s what football’s all about. I’m really excited about playing the best teams in a World Cup.”
Football’s oldest rivals also met in a group opener at Euro 2017, but both were under different management with Mark Sampson’s side running out easy 6-0 winners in Utrecht. But now they have the chance to avenge that defeat.
Scotland and Manchester City defender Jen Beattie is looking forward to it.
“I think it just probably adds to the excitement even more now that we know who’s in our group,” she said. “England again in the opening game of the tournament, only our second tournament ever.”
England boss Phil Neville believes Scotland are a much-improved side under Kerr – and expects a hard game against them in Nice on June 9.
“It will be a special occasion against our nearest rivals,” Neville said. “I watched Scotland play USA [in Paisley last month] and thought they were fantastic.”
Scotland lost that game by just 1-0, confirming the advances they have made under Kerr, who replaced Anna Signeul after the Euros.
“It will be a top-class game of football and we’ll have to be at our very best and reach a level we’ve probably not produced before while I’ve been manager,” Neville continued.
“You go back to that game at the Euros and Scotland are a totally different outfit. They’ve got confidence, they’ve got experience and they’ve got a really good system. They also have a fantastic manager.”
SHELLEY Kerr admitted Scotland face a very tough task after being pitted against England, Japan and Argentina in Group D of the World Cup.
The opener for Kerr’s squad will be against England on June 9 in Nice.
This will be a re-run of the Scots’ opening Euro 2017 game – against England and staged in Utrecht. However, Scotland suffered a 6-0 defeat.
Kerr replaced Anna Signeul as head coach after that tournament, just as Phil Neville came in for Mark Sampson.
But Kerr believes her side will fare better in France than Holland.
Speaking after the draw was made at La Seine Musicale in Paris last night, Kerr said: “We went into the Euros with four starting players out through injury.
“On top of that we’ve matured and developed massively as a team. We have some talented youngsters and some really experienced pros. Now it’s all about planning and how we get to the next level.
“We’ve got to a World Cup finals for the first time so we’ve got to embrace it. Tactically we’ve developed, as well as having a critical mass of players who are really, really hungry. When you’ve got a good level of competition it increases the level of performance.”
England, as the Pot 1 team, were drawn out first and were followed by Japan from Pot 2, Scotland from the third seeds, and finally Argentina, the highest-ranked nation in Pot 4.
“You’re playing Japan, who are a formidable force and runners-up in 2015,” Kerr pointed out. “England, bronze medallists in 2015, and Argentina as well, who have played in World Cup finals before.”
The head coach might have added that, as well as losing the final to USA in Canada three years ago, Japan won the tournament in 2011 in Germany. Playing in Europe is obviously no barrier to a nation that has always been among the best in women’s football.
Argentina, like most of the South American nations, have suffered from receiving minimal support from their federation, although that is now changing. Nevertheless, Scotland can still hope to qualify for the last 16 as, at the very least, one of the four best third-placed teams in the six groups.
After playing England, Scotland will meet Japan in Rennes and then travel to Paris, and the Parc de Princes, for the final group game against Argentina.
“It’s a very, very tough first game, and a very tough second game,” Kerr conceded. “But when you’re a manager you want to compete on the world stage – that’s what football’s all about. I’m really excited about playing the best teams in a World Cup.”
The draw was a complicated affair as no two teams from the same confederation could be in the same group – with the exception of Uefa, who provided nine of the 24 finalists, including the hosts. The trophy itself was brought on to the stage by USA captain Carli Lloyd, scorer of a hat-trick against Japan in the 2015 final. Lloyd said she was “pretty confident” her side would retain the trophy this summer.
The draw was conducted by Louis Saha and Alex Scott, the former England player, but by far the biggest round of applause was reserved for one of the assistants – Didier Deschamps, who became only the third man to win the World Cup as a player and manager when he led France to a tournament win in Russia earlier this year.
Despite the unrest in other parts of the French capital, there was no attempt to disrupt the draw in the outlying Boulogne-Billacourt area.