Scotland 1 Spain 1: Defiant Fay insists victory in Madrid is sole goal for Scots

Monday 22 October 2012

SCOTLAND'S women travelled to Madrid last night still confident of being able to qualify for next summer's Euro 2013 finals in Sweden despite being held to a draw at Hampden on Saturday.

Jennifer Hermoso of Spain dispossesses Scotland's Megan Sneddon. Picture: Jeff Holmes/SNS

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Alan Campbell

Anna Signeul's side invited trouble on their first appearance at Hampden by defending too deeply in the opening 45 minutes, but could still have won the first leg of the play-off had Swiss referee Esther Staubli awarded an obvious penalty near the end of the game.

Kim Little put the hosts ahead with a first-half penalty, but the Scots lost a soft goal five minutes later when Gemma Fay, the goalkeeper and captain, failed to hold a shot by Sonia Bermudez and Adriana, the Chelsea striker, took advantage.Fay made amends with a stunning double save from Adriana after Spain had been awarded a penalty of their own. The Celtic player said: "It would have been nice to have gone to Madrid with a 1-0 lead and I'm personally disappointed with the Spanish goal."Hopefully I made it up to the girls with the penalty save. When you make a mistake, the best thing is to pick yourself up and get on with it. That's what I did and we came away with a draw. The tie is still in our hands."To achieve the win they need in Madrid, the Scots will need to find a way of enjoying a greater share of possession. The wide spaces of Hampden suited the Spanish players, and Scotland did well to reach the interval on level terms.Four of the home starting XI, and five more on the bench, played in Scottish Cup semi-finals last Wednesday night, giving themselves less than 72 hours to recover.Beating the Spaniards would have been a big ask for professional players, never mind amateurs who hold down full-time jobs.Spain, who are seeded and five places higher in the FIFA rankings, will expect to finish the job in Madrid, but Fay said: "It's a one-off game, a cup final, and it comes down to the attitude you take on to the pitch. "We go there with a 1-1 draw knowing we need to score a goal, but also knowing we can do it. Spain are technically good and skilful, but we had some great opportunities as well."Four years ago we lost the play-off to Russia on away goals. Everybody who was there that night and experienced the disappointment will never forget it. Anna challenged us then to step up and make a difference and we will use what happened then to spur us on in Madrid."

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Scotland 1 Spain 1: Defiant Fay insists victory in Madrid is sole goal for Scots

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