| How do you bounce back from a 1-7 beating or miss out on a major tournament? Take it on the chin and move on? Remind yourself that Liverpool were due somebody a thrashing and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time? There is always a differnce in how teams play in their domestic leagees and in Europe. In Scotland we have been a bit blinkered to the progress made by teams overseas when drawn against them in competitions. No longer are Scottish teams feared when draws are made. The media always get in a frenzy when a Scottish side is drawn againt an English side or a top foreign club with next leg possible opponents being drawn into the discussion. Even when listening to the first half Radio Scotland on the net on Wednesday pundits were saying things like 'Liverpool are there for the taking', 'Rangers are so up for the game' etc. Always a dangerous thing to predict how things will turn out. Of course that is what they are paid for, to get the conversation going. However, it does show that experience of playing/managing/coaching does not bring magical foresight with it. On Tuesday evening, the Scottish Women's National Team were planning on buying their tickets for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Sadly, those plans were screwed by the Republic of Ireland, led by a previous manager of the SWNT Vera Pauw, which withstood the pressure from the home side and ran out 0-1 winners to reach their first World Cup. While improvements in the team's performance could be reflected on, the killer instinct was not there on the night. Close but no cigar gets to be boring after so many near misses. Lessons will need to be taken on board with changes made to tactoics etc. New talent will emerge; players and teams will change with tiem to refresh and regroupo from the next assualt on the challenge of making progress overseas. |
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Editor |