Scotland Women go into World Cup play-off against Austria with real, true and some painful memories

Just under 19,000 Scotland supporters turned up at Hampden to send the women’s team off to the World Cup finals in France back in 2019. Their first participation at FIFA’s increasingly glitzy and high profile female event, Scotland’s women were riding the crest of a wave as they beat Jamaica before reaching for the passports.

Lisa Evans during an SWNT Training Session at the Oriam, on October 03, 2022, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

Such numbers have never quite been persuaded to keep pace with the women’s team since. The joie de vivre that surrounded those carnival summer nights quickly crashed as Scotland’s failure to make an impression on the tournament – Shelley Kerr’s side lost to England and Japan and then squandered a 3-0 lead against Argentina to leave with only one point from their three group games amid reports of an acrimonious dressing room environment – was followed up by a limp European Championships campaign before Spaniard Pedro Martinez Losa replaced Kerr last year.

It is a new regime and a new chapter but some of those old wounds have acted as a catalyst in this qualification process for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“You should feel fulfilment, joy and pride about playing in a World Cup,” reflected captain Rachel Corsie. “The nature of the exit from the tournament was very, very difficult and there was a lot to that. A lot of emotion and that leaves quite a lot of difficult feelings which you play with in your own head. Being at a World Cup for the first time was such a great achievement, but there's probably the fire in your belly of wanting to keep achieving more and more and more.

Pedro Martinez Losa during an SWNT Training Session at the Oriam, on October 03, 2022, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

“Some [of those memories] are still happening. There's a game like tonight’s when you naturally look back on the World Cup. You can't help but go back to those memories and they still feel real and true.”

Thursday night’s game against Austria in the Women’s World Cup semi-final play-off at Hampden is arguably Scotland’s biggest game since that opening encounter at the 2019 World Cup. In the gloomy surrounds of an autumn evening, Scotland will hope that supporters can be persuaded to rekindle some of that enthusiasm for the women’s national side as they prepare for what will be the biggest game in the careers of some of tonight’s players; there are tentative hopes that the attendance this evening as Scotland look to take a significant step towards Australia and New Zealand will eclipse the current competitive record of 7804.

Under Martinez Losa, Scotland have looked to implement a different style and different culture. The Spaniard had clear ideas about introducing an expansive and possession based approach but, inevitably, it has needed time to take root; a sobering four game run without a win with a brutal 8-0 walloping at the hands of Spain thrown in made for an uneasy start to his regime. It was ironic, then, that the turning point seemed to come at Hampden in a 2-0 defeat by Spain with Scotland vanquished but not demoralised.

Progress since then has been steady. Finishing runners up in their qualification group to Spain was to be expected with the litmus test of Scotland’s fledging development coming this week. Austria were beaten by eventual European Championship finalists Germany at the quarter-final stage this summer.

With players plying their trade in the well resourced German Bundesliga and a few in the English WSL – captain Carinna Wenninger is on loan at Roma from Bayern Munich – the Austrians will arguably be a tougher proposition that the Republic of Ireland in the play-off final next Tuesday, should Scotland prevail.

Scotland can point to players at elite level; Caroline Weir has acclimatised quickly to Real Madrid, Erin Cuthbert is playing regularly at Chelsea, Christy Grimshaw with AC Milan. Interestingly, much of the preparation for the Austria game centred around the mental and emotional aspects with coloured coded cards this week mirroring different emotions charting just where the player’s heads have been.

“Every day the players posted a post-it to match their mood at our meetings – yellow for fear, green for sad, purple for happy, orange if you’re angry etc,” Martinez Losa explained. “Even through a day our emotions can change. We have talked about past experiences. We can control our emotions and how long they stay with us.

“Last night we were all purple. Those who have been worried or have had fears, we have talked about those things. We feel strong and the energy we are building now to take into the game is important.

“We are in a good moment. This is a strong squad. For me it is a privilege to manage Scotland and we hope to achieve the success that this opportunity brings. It is a journey and while we are prepared for every scenario, we are dreaming about the good ones.”