Scotland score eight in opening qualifier for Women’s Euro 2021 Championship

Scotland got off to the perfect start in their quest to qualify for a third successive tournament with a resounding 8-0 home win against Cyprus at Hibs’ Easter Road Stadium in Edinburgh.

Although the Scottish Premiership stadium had significantly more empty seats than occupied ones, it was still positive progress that 6,200 fans turned up given that this was the second biggest crowd ever for a women’s match in the country (and indeed a bigger crowd than several of last weekend’s Scottish men’s Premiership attendances!) And the fans who did attend witnessed a confident, entertaining and professional performance from the home side.

It was Scotland’s first competitive match since that devastating draw in Paris back in June which saw Scotland crash out of the World Cup after losing a three goal lead to Argentina in the last 15 minutes.

As well as the number and quality of the goals scored tonight, Scotland manager Shelley Kerr was additionally pleased to keep a clean sheet after the goals that were conceded in the last quarter of that match just over two months ago. She also said after the match that her team “wanted to entertain and were hungry for success.”

Kim Little, who scored five of Scotland’s eight goals, emphasised this hunger and determination by saying they felt they “should have scored more goals tonight” and despite the scoreline admitted they were “sloppy at times”.

Up next for Scotland is a trip back to Albania in November, the place with happy memories for the Scotland team, as the 2-1 win there in September 2018 saw them qualify for the World Cup Finals in France for the first time in their history. A repeat performance and result would keep them on track for the Euro Finals in England in less than two years’ time.