Fay upbeat over Scotland’s future despite collapse

SCOTLAND captain Gemma Fay believes her side can look forward with confidence to the next World Cup qualifying campaign, despite their defeat by Germany in Essen on Saturday.

Having succeeded in stringing together a five-match undefeated run without all four first-choice defenders, who were either injured or unavailable, the Scots’ plans to contain Germany unravelled in a disastrous spell near the end of the first half when they conceded three goals, two of them in 60 seconds. Asked if the inexperience of the defenders had been a telling factor against the ruthless Germans, Fay replied: “That’s a little bit unfair, because these players were in the side when we beat Italy, Holland, Wales and Iceland, and also drew with England. “But we don’t have the cover that the Germans do, and none of our back four were playing in their usual club positions. There will be fantastic competition when we have players like central defenders Ifeoma Dieke and Rachel Corsie back for the World Cup games in the autumn.”

Fay, who won her 158th cap at the Stadion Essen, was a member of the Scotland side which was on the wrong end of a 5-0 defeat by the Germans when the sides last met at McDiarmid Park in 2006.

“Germany didn’t have nearly as many chances against us on Saturday as they had in that game,” Fay pointed out. “We matched them very well in the first 30 minutes and it’s a measure of our improvement that we’re disappointed at losing 3-0. We presented Germany with the opportunities to score all three and that’s the most disappointing aspect.”

Many of Scotland’s players struggled to make an impression on the match as the home players, anxious to please coach Silvia Neid ahead of next month’s European Championship in Sweden, dominated the possession and were actually stronger in the second half when their numerous subs gave them fresh impetus.

Scotland did well not to concede more goals, with Fay pulling off two vital saves from Anja Mittag and Svenja Huth. Scotland coach Anna Signeul also used the second period to give a second cap to 17-year-old Hibs player Caroline Weir and she came close to pulling a goal back near the end with a deflected shot. Weir is regarded as an outstanding prospect, but is just one of several young players now knocking at the door of the first team.

At a an even younger level, the under-17 girls’ 7-0 defeat of Wales last week was one of the best performances by a Scottish side in recent years. The match in Essen, though, confirmed there is still a wide gap between the very top teams and the rest. Although France are catching up fast, Germany remain the best team in Europe and will want a record sixth successive title in Sweden.