IT was a thrill to be at the Pinatar Arena on Monday night to watch Scotland beat Brazil for the first time at senior level.
The Brazilians are on a bad run at the moment, but nevertheless they are a fabled footballing nation, they are ranked No.10 in the world, and beating them was a huge boost ahead of this summer’s World Cup in France.
Talking of which, Shelley Kerr travels out to Rennes and Paris tomorrow to run her eye over the accommodation, stadia and training facilities her side will experience when they play Japan and Argentina.
She visited Nice, where Scotland open their Group D account against England on June 9, immediately after December’s draw in the
French capital.
The head coach has revealed that Michael O’Neill, the
Northern Ireland men’s team manager – who turned down the Scotland men’s job before Alex McLeish was appointed to replace Gordon Strachan in February – contacted her to
offer advice.
O’Neill guided the Northern Irish to their first European Championship finals, also in France, three years ago and got them out of their group and into the last 16, where they were beaten by Wales.
By coincidence, his side played two of their three group matches in the Nice and Paris grounds which Scotland have also been allocated.
“Michael got in touch and we’ve had a sit-down chat about his experiences,” Kerr said.
“That’s great for me, tapping into the knowledge of someone who has actually been there at a major finals.
“He said ‘some of this may be useful, some of it might not’, and I could take what I needed from his advice. Nothing in life is perfect from the start so he’s offering his perspective to help me prepare, which is so kind.”
The head coach will have to name her 23-player World Cup squad ahead of the send-off game against Jamaica at Hampden Park on May 28. She is likely to do so in the middle of next month.
“Picking the squad will be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as a head coach,” she admitted. “We’ve used 30-odd players, and the environment is so competitive. I can see the players are stressed about it already.”
Although Kerr might disagree, there are probably 25 players – at a push 26 – in realistic contention.
These are the 23 who were in Spain, along with left-back Emma Mitchell and striker Lana Clelland.
MICHAEL O'Neill has more than a passing interest in women's football as his elder daughter, Erin, is a youth player at Hibernian and a member of the under-16 south-eastern regional squad.
She is, according to the club's academy manager, Joelle Murray, a very promising winger who is comfortable on either the left or right. Murray, who is one of the players who will be sweating over Kerr's World Cup squad selection, admits there is one aspect of assessing young Erin's progress which she finds mildly stressful.
“I've had a couple of one-to-ones with Michael, which was a little bit daunting, trying to tell him how I think his daughter should play,” she pointed out with a wry smile.
MURRAY'S side will be attempting to extend a notable winning run in the domestic knock-out competitions when they meet Spartans in the first of the two League Cup semi-finals at Broadwood this afternoon.
Hibs' last defeat in a cup tie was in November, 2015, when they lost 3-0 to Glasgow City in the Scottish Cup final. Clare Shine, who scored all three goals that day, is back with the Scottish champions and is expected to play in the second semi against Rangers.
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