SCOTLAND midfielder Jo Love has no intention of retiring from international football despite another opportunity to qualify for the finals of a major championship having slipped away.
In some respects the 4-1 aggregate defeat to the Netherlands was more disappointing than the Euro 2009 and 2013 play-off defeats to Russia and Spain. Both of these, while highly traumatic, saw Anna Signeul's side give an extremely good account of themselves. Sadly, that wasn't the case over the two legs against the Dutch.
The 2-1 defeat at Tynecastle last Saturday was always going to be difficult to overcome, and so it proved in front of 7600 enthusiastic fans at Sparta Rotterdam's ground on Thursday night. The most worrying aspect was the lack of depth in the squad, with no adequate replacements for players who were injured or short of match fitness.
The focus will now turn to Euro 2017. Whereas there were only eight Uefa places available for Canada, the European Championship, which has now been expanded to 16 teams, has always been regarded as providing the most realistic qualification opportunity. No venue has been chosen, but the Netherlands are said to be the frontrunners.
"Deep down we know we can do better," admitted Love, who won her 155th cap in Rotterdam and is Scotland's most capped outfield player. "I do think everyone gave all they had over the two games, but Holland were just a class outfit. I think they will beat Italy in the play-off final and I hope they do well at the World Cup.
"We've been through a lot together, but progress takes time and that can't be rushed. You have to remember where we've come from and the steps we've made in the last few years. That has been phenomenal. We've got great young talent coming through and the correct support behind us. The 2017 Euros are our goal now."
Despite being a member of the side since 2002, the Glasgow City player is still just 28 and intends to continue playing top class football alongside her job as a scientist. "I'm not planning to retire - I can't finish on that note," she said. "If Anna will have me in the team I'm happy to put the work in."
Other long-term stalwarts, such as goalkeeper and captain Gemma Fay, central defender Ifeoma Dieke, midfielder Megan Sneddon - who was disappointed not to be picked for either of the play-off games - and Glasgow City captain Leanne Ross also have decisions to make about their international futures.
"I can't speak for the other players in similar positions to mine, but given all the effort they have put in they might arrive at the same conclusion as me," Love said. "I would like to see them still around.
"We just have to keep working hard. There is nothing else we can do. We know we are going to qualify for the final of a major championship at some point. I hope it is 2017."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article