IT was, set against the magnificent backdrop of the Albanian Alps, a very un-Scottish ending. Instead of glorious failure, events conspired to send
Shelley Kerr and her players to next summer’s World Cup in France.
The final whistle, and the players’ unbridled joy on learning that Switzerland had simultaneously failed to win in Poland, confirmed Kerr’s long-held belief that it would be the top seeds who faltered at the last hurdle.
The 2-1 win over Albania at the Lori Borici Stadium was somewhat laboured, but neither head coach Kerr nor her players were concerned about that after the team’s historic achievement. The two results left Scotland on top of Group 2 for only the first time since the qualifying campaign began last September. They can now look forward to next summer’s finals in France while the Swiss contemplate the four nation play-offs.
“You could see our energy was zapped tonight after the win over
Switzerland on Thursday night and the pitch here wasn’t great,” Kerr said. “But that’s why I knew it would be the same for the Swiss against Poland.
“The team are going to celebrate for sure because they deserve it – it’s not every day you get to a World Cup, is it? Nothing compares to this. I’m delighted for all the players, the organisation and all the other people who support us.
“We had seven or eight good chances, we’ve hit the post again and we should have made it more comfortable but I’m no going to dissect the performance.
“The whole week has been so tense and I’ve tried to keep calm as a coach. I’ve just told the players to try and win the games and they’ve done it magnificently.”
Top scorer Jane Ross, who was left out of the starting line-up for the previous two games, returned, while Manchester United’s Lizzie Arnot was also given her first start since returning from an ACL injury in April. Christie Murray and Claire Emslie dropped down to the bench.
With the home side expected to get as many bodies as possible behind the ball, Scotland’s game plan was to stretch them on both flanks and it didn’t take long to pay off.
After nine minutes of probing, Lisa Evans got clear on the left and sent over a cross to the far post which Arnot sent back into the path of Kim Little. The Arsenal captain claimed it and crashed a volley past Viona Rexhepi.
It looked to be a non-contest as the Scots created chance after chance but they lacked the sharpness to take advantage. Rexhepi was also doing her part to keep Albania afloat and made a terrific double save from Erin Cuthbert and Ross six minutes after the goal.
The pattern continued until the half hour when the Albanians, who looked woefully slow at the back, started to find some confidence. They found an equaliser just before half time, and just minutes after Rexhepi had made an even better save from Emma Mitchell – Megi Doci sending a low shot past Lee Alexander, who had been redundant for most of the 45 minutes.
Left-back Mitchell came even closer with a shot which hit the post and Cuthbert drew out another fine save from Rexhepi, but it was starting to look fraught midway through the second half when the much-needed goal finally arrived.
Caroline Weir took a free kick which her Manchester City team-mate headed back into the path of Ross and the striker scored her 57th, and most important, Scotland goal.
After that there was no way back for Albania, who spent most of the remaining time pinned back in their own half. News filtered through that Switzerland had been held by Poland and two minutes later Scotland had booked their place in the 2019 World Cup.
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel