Corsie: We are mentally much stronger now
Scotland captain Rachel Corsie believes her side has found a new mental toughness – and it took them a step closer to a secondsuccessive World Cup on Thursday night.
A headed goal early in extra time from substitute Abi Harrison secured a 1-0 win over Austria at Hampden.
The goal eliminated the visitors from the play-offs and Scotland now host the Republic of Ireland at the national stadium on Tuesday.
A second win could see Scotland qualify automatically for next summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand – but that depends on the outcome of the other two Uefa second round play-off games.
If Iceland beat Portugal, and Switzerland win against Wales, Corsie’s side will have to travel to New Zealand in February for the inter-confederation play-offs even if they beat Ireland.
The skipper was involved in two last-minute defeats which cost her side qualification for Euro 2013 and also scuppered their chances of making history by qualifying for the last -6 of the last World Cup in France.
That raised questions about their temperament but Corsie promised: “We’re mentally much stronger now, and that comes in a lot of different ways.
“You saw it against Austria on the pitch in large moments. With 10 minutes to go I thought we managed the game so well.
“But aside from that I think we’ve got a different environment in the group as a whole.
“We have a different belief and there’s more demands on each other not just to perform, but to have that mental toughness to dig something out.”
Austria, who reached the semi-finals of Euro 2017 and the quarter-finals of this summer’s tournament in England, are three places above Scotland in the Fifa rankings.
Ireland are three places below, but Corsie is expecting an equally tough match, especially as the Irish had the luxury of a night off on Thursday while Scotland played 120 minutes on a sodden Hampden pitch.
“They’ve had some great results in qualifying,” the Aston Villa player said.
“They put themselves in the best possible position by not having to play that extra game on Thursday.
“We know a lot of their players which changes the dynamic I always think. You just have that bit more knowledge – but equally they’ll feel the same.
“It will be really tight again so we need to make sure we prepare properly.”
Corsie is hoping for another big crowd – a record of 10,182 for a women’s competitive game in Scotland were at Hampden last Thursday.