Scotland's women take on Belgium on Tuesday evening at the Falkirk Stadium continuing their preparations for the EURO2013 Qualifying campaign which starts against Israel on 12 October at the Ness Ziona Stadium. They will want to build on the 5-0 thrashing of Switzerland at the same venue on Sunday before they travel to Finland next month for another pre-campaign double header against their hosts. Sunday saw Jane Ross increase her tally of goals for Scotland from four to six before she was subbed in the 67 minute. The Glasgow City player is building a good partnership with Arsenal's Julie Fleeting but has a long way to go to catch up on her goal tally of 115 from 119 games. However, Ross is not one who is daunted by challenges.
Like the majority of women players, Ross is not a full-time player and has to juggle her football career alongside her other life, as a student going for her masters in research into Dexa scanners (which are used to check the 'density' of bones. This test uses X-rays to show how strong bones are - I had to look that up!). There will be a bit of juggling for Ross as while she is doing that, playing international football but her side, Glasgow City, have made it as the first Scottish side into the last 32 of the Women's Champion's League. The draw for the knock out stages takes place on Tuesday but Ross is totally focused on playing against Belgium. National Coach Anna Signeul described Ross as 'a little star' after the game on Sunday. Ross said: "It was a good game to play in. I really enjoy playing up front with Julie. At my club we play with three up front so coming into play with two up front it's great to play up front with Julie as she has great experience so she talks me through the game."
As part of the pioneering Scottish side in the Champions League, Glasgow City scored the Scottish 100th goal in the competition and are the second highest British scoring side. Ross went on: "Everybody was chuffed and happy that we managed to qualify and get into the last 32 and it's great to be part of the knock out stages. Going into the three group games no player really expected to go through. We went into the games as top seeds which put some pressure on us but we knew we were in for a hard time especially with the heat (in Serbia). Even with the Champions League games (they could be playing a game every two or three days) I will just be getting on with things, recovering and training as usual while balancing my university work and my football life."