THE most heartening aspect of Scotland's extra-time 1-0 win over Austria on Thursday night was the resolve shown to beat higher ranked opponents. Nobody would claim the match – played on a heavy Hampden pitch in difficult weather conditions – was an enthralling spectacle for the competitive record crowd of 10,182, but only the result mattered.
The day before, I asked Pedro Martinez Losa if he and his backroom staff had been working to improve the side's collective mental strength. He replied in the affirmative and there was plenty of evidence of it at the national stadium.
That was also the conclusion of captain Rachel Corsie, who has suffered her share of Scotland collapses in important games. The most wounding was surrendering a 3-0 lead in the last 16 minutes of the final 2019 World Cup group match against Argentina in Paris, but a close second was the loss of a last second extra-time goal to Spain which cost the side a first ever major tournament appearance at Euro 2013.
