England managed to hold Scotland for a draw as International Women’s Day was celebrated in Larnaca with a fierce game of football between the two nations. Both teams played some good football and made lots of wonderful opportunities but failed to make the most of their chances and hence squandered away the chance of winning the match and securing for themselves a good position in the tournament.
Scotland thrashed England two goals to none two years back in the same tournament which ended a thirty four year long spell of not having won a game against their arch rivals England. And history was about to repeat itself again as Scotland took the lead twice in the game only to give it away both the times. Funny thing is that England too had the lead twice in the game only to lose it both the times and hence the game ended with a flurry of goals but no definite winner.
Hope Powell summed up the match well as she admitted that it was a crazy game of football. She admitted that her team did not manage themselves well and let Scotland get off to a quicker start and hence it was an uphill struggle. She said that her team played better in the second half, more composed and disciplined and should have won the match four goals to three and not conceded a late equalizer. She was indeed disappointed with the fact that they let their lead slip away and could not convert their goals to winning ones.
On the other hand, Scotland’s manager, Signeul said that the team controlled the first half and started quite effectively but could not hold on to their lead and make the most of the opportunities that they were creating. She said that it was heartbreaking to get behind on two occasions especially after having led the match but admitted that the performance overall was quite satisfactory and that Kim Little played really well.
Though both the teams played well and scored plenty of goals, the last word went to Scotland as Kim Little sent a beautiful pass into the line of Mitchell for the substitute to score the last goal of the match with eight minutes to go before the final whistle. It must have been a terrible disappointment for England as they failed to capitalize on their chances. England now have to beat New Zealand in order to win the top position in their group and reach the final while Scotland must draw with Italy to prevent them from finishing at the last spot.
Leave a Reply