THERE were 6206 reasons to be cheerful as Scotland got their Euro 2021 qualifying campaign off to a winning start against Cyprus at Easter Road on Friday night.
Although clearly nowhere near the 18,555 who turned up on a balmy May evening to watch the World Cup send-off game against Jamaica at Hampden, the attendance in Edinburgh was nevertheless a record for a competitive home game. The weather prior to the match was dismal, while the entire build-up had been undermined by negative publicity referencing what happened in the team hotel in Paris the day after Scotland's World Cup exit.
That so many were still prepared to back the team was therefore encouraging. In the circumstances a convincing win and performance were required and both were delivered. Kim Little, who scored five goals, and Caroline Weir, who got the last, were the stand-out performers.
Little's scoring spree brought her total for Scotland to 59 and she is now joint top current scorer with Jane Ross, who also marked her return to the starting line-up with a goal. Little was underwhelming for a player of her quality at the World Cup, but against vastly inferior opposition stood out like a beacon and took the goals with her old customary aplomb.
“In terms of the result, not conceding, and scoring some nice goals – it's what we wanted from the night,” the Arsenal captain said. “We were a little sloppy at times, but when you have that much possession sometimes it happens.”
Cyprus were playing their first-ever Euro or World Cup qualifier and their top domestic clubs are packed with overseas players. Given both these factors they stuck to their task well and would have departed happily with the 5-0 which was on the scoreboard after 82 minutes.
Their diminutive 17-year-old left winger, Elena Aristodimou, is regarded as the island's best talent, and she showed flashes of it on a pitch which favoured the much superior home team. The Cyprus goalkeeper, Eleni Ttakka, had a Robert Louis Stevenson evening, combining fine saves with a couple of abject errors.
The win takes Scotland to the top of Group E. Second seeds Finland get their campaign underway in Albania tomorrow, while Portugal, who may be the more dangerous opponent, start next month.
The result, and the nature of much of the build-up play leading to the goals, was badly needed to round off what must have been a monumentally difficult 15 days for Shelley Kerr and her immediate coaching staff. The clear-the-air meeting in Edinburgh on Monday, attended by Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell, led to captain Rachel Corsie talking to the media the following day.
The Utah Royals central defender, who is now a grand old dame of 30 following her birthday a fortnight ago, was her usual measured, intelligent self. She gave an assessment of what had been discussed, including a “sincere apology” to the players from the head coach, without breaching any obvious confidences.
Corsie's words and demeanour suggested there would be minimal problems going into the Cyprus game and so it proved. However, she also spoke of a healing process, and said this would take longer for some players than others.
Kerr would absolutely not be drawn when given opportunities on Thursday to expand on what was discussed at the meeting. So far at least, the only - very - sketchy account of what happened in the team hotel in Paris the day after Scotland exited the World Cup has been an interview the head coach gave to the BBC on the day of the squad announcement.
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