Scotland begin the 2023 Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign next week with a double-header against Hungary and Faroe Islands.
This camp comes with pressure, and two wins are an absolute must right at the start of a new qualifying bid.
There is a renewed excitement among the Scotland players, despite the demand for us to find our way back to a major tournament.
First up is an away trip to Hungary, with the team travelling to Budapest on Thursday afternoon ahead of the match on Friday night. The game will be a stern test, especially away from home, but most players are fresh from a good pre-season run and the game is one we can look forward to getting our campaign up and running with.
That will be followed with a quick turnaround to prepare for a home tie against the Faroe Islands on Tuesday night. The match will be played at Hampden, which has been announced as the home of both the men’s and women’s national teams going forward.
This camp will be the first time the team will meet our new head coach, Pedro Martinez Losa, who selected his first Scotland squad earlier this week.
The squad is largely full of familiar faces – Caroline Weir returns to national duties after her inclusion at the Tokyo Olympics for Team GB, Jen Beattie is also included after she has gained valuable minutes with Arsenal since having back surgery, and Lisa Evans has also regained her place after an Achilles injury which kept her out of the squad for friendlies against Wales and Northern Ireland in June.
Rangers will be most represented club during the camp, with six players earning a call-up. The Ibrox club has one of the most prestigious set-ups in the domestic game and increased representation in the national team is not surprising.
Most notable among the Rangers group is 32-year-old striker Jane Ross, who makes her return to the Scotland squad after her the move to the Glasgow club this summer. The forward has scored 62 goals in 136 appearances for the national team, but fell out of favour towards the end of last season, having found herself getting less minutes at Manchester United than she would have liked.
The change in club environment looks to have restored her confidence and this can help to rekindle the form Ross has previously displayed for Scotland.
Stonehaven’s Christy Grimshaw, as well as Eartha Cummings, will meet up with the squad again on Monday morning after their first inclusion back in June. Both players remain uncapped in competitive games, although Grimshaw came off the bench against Northern Ireland and started the following friendly against Wales during the last international double-header.
A record home crowd for a Scotland Women’s qualifying match is expected next Tuesday and the support is something the players know is extremely valuable in our bid for more success. The last time the side played at the national stadium was in May 2019 for the team’s World Cup send-off and everyone is looking forward to being back there.
Huge blow for Glasgow City in missing out on Champions League qualification
It was disappointment for Manchester City and Glasgow City through the week as both sides narrowly lost at home in the second-leg of their Uefa Women’s Champions League second qualifying round ties.
Manchester City lost out 1-0 to Real Madrid on Wednesday night, resulting in a 2-1 defeat on aggregate, in what is certainly considered a premature exit to the competition for last season’s quarter-finalists.
A neat strike from Claudia Zornoza on the stroke of half-time was enough for debutants Real Madrid to make a bold entrance to the Champions League in their first ever involvement.
With the restructured competition, Manchester City entered at the second stage of qualifying, and Real Madrid were perhaps one of the tougher sides to have faced at this early stage. However, with the calibre of players at one of the top English clubs, it is certainly the first upset in this year’s competition.
For Glasgow City, they were eliminated by Swiss side Servette 3-2 on aggregate. City took an early lead in the second leg to put them 2-1 up in the tie, but two goals, one either side of half-time, were a sucker-punch to the Scottish champions, who couldn’t find a way to recover.
For City, the financial implications of not making the Champions League proper will be an enormous blow and it will be a real disappointment to have not managed to progress, especially against a side that were of relatively similar stature.
Arsenal, who were successful in qualifying, will now join Chelsea as the only two British representatives who will take part in the exciting new group stage.
Miedema looks set to keep breaking records
Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema continues to write history as she scored her 100th goal for Arsenal after only 110 competitive appearances for the club.
Goal no.100 came late in the second half of Arsenal’s UWCL tie against Slavia Prague, as she fittingly completed her hat-trick to guide her side into the groups.
At only 25, the Dutch forward already leads the way as the all-time leading goalscorer in the WSL and looks set to keep adding to her accolades.
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