Scotland captain on 'incredible' Rangers talent, feeling hungrier than ever and the importance of success
Injury may have forced her to miss her first camp in many moons but the confidence emanating from the Scotland’s Easter camp has certainly not been lost on captain Rachel Corsie.
A 1-0 win over World Cup hosts Australia last Friday was backed up by an impressive 4-0 demolition of Costa Rica at Hampden just four days later and the results have handed Tartan Army fans a much needed morale boost as Scotland dream of qualification for the European Championships in 2025.
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Hide Ad“As a squad, we feel there has been a lot of growth consistently over the last 18 months,” said the Scotland skipper.
"Obviously when you’re assessing the performances and scores, we understand a couple of times they haven’t been how we have wanted them to be but the win over Australia in particular, a team that is ranked amongst the top teams in the world, is good for the group and good for confidence.
“From speaking to the players everyone has spoken so positively of everyone involved in the camp. We have a great group of players that make sure people enjoy it, get involved and feel like they can perform. All round, it was a really positive camp”.
And when it comes to positives, there will be few feeling more confident than Rangers star Emma Watson after she bagged a dream double on her Hampden Park debut. Still just 17-years-old, Watson put in a performance that made a mockery of her tender years and Corsie pointed to the growth of the women’s game in Scotland as vital when it comes to producing more of Watson’s ilk.
“All the attention is fully deserved for Emma. As a group, we’ve known of her as someone coming through and impressing at youth level. Obviously it is fantastic for her to get a chance to play for the national team and with two games and two goals, that’s incredible.
"I think I was still training at Pittodrie car park when I was her age at the back of the main stand. The growth of the game is incredibly important and now we are starting to see even the youth national team have had some great results of that and it is because of the domestic game growing in infrastructure and that filters down. To me, everything is important and everything matters. The visibility of the game is allowing players like Emma, and the generations beyond that, see what is possible.
"Doing well at international level is massively important it draws more attention and support, more crowds, funding and resources which travels all the way down. Everyone involved understands where women’s sport is at and that drives a continual importance to do well – because it brings more to the table.