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.
Martinez Losa was a spectator at that game, while Corsie suffered a second half ACL injury. The circumstances of the defeat were unfortunate, but the outcome entirely familiar for long-standing observers of both the women's and men's national teams.
Speaking to Corsie in the bowels of Hampden after Thursday's win, she concurred with Martinez Losa that there has been a positive shift.
“It's much stronger,” the 33-year-old said of the mental toughness aspect. “And that comes in a lot of different ways.
“With ten minutes to go I thought we managed the game so well. But aside from that I think we've got a different environment in the group as a whole – we have a different belief and there's more demands on each other not just to perform, but to have that mental toughness to dig something out and encourage each other when we need it.”
Ironically, the demands will be on the players' legs as much as their mental fortitude when they play the Republic of Ireland in the second round play-off match at the national stadium on Tuesday. Having won themselves a higher play-off ranking through their efforts in group qualifying, the Irish had the luxury of the night off on Thursday.
By contrast, most of Scotland's key players, including Caroline Weir and Erin Cuthbert, were exerting themselves on the sodden Hampden pitch for the full 120 minutes. That is something Vera Pauw will seek to exploit when she sends her side out on Tuesday.
Pauw, of course, was Anna Signeul's predecessor as Scotland head coach. As such she can be credited, along with the Swede, for the subsequent rise in the team's standing in world football.
It would, therefore, be a further irony if Pauw could prevent Scotland from reaching a second successive World Cup, just as Signeul did in Euro qualifying with Finland.
“Don't talk that up into being a possibility,” Corsie implored after the Austria win. “Vera knows our culture well and I'm sure she'll work hard with her players over the next few days to make them aware of what you get when you face Scotland.
“We know a lot of their players which changes the dynamic I always think. You just have that bit more knowledge – but equally they'll feel the same.
“It will be really tight again.”
WHILE Corsie's former Glasgow City team-mate Denise O'Sullivan will be an important player for Ireland, Ruesha Littlejohn won't be in the Hampden side. She is another ex-City team-mate and now both play for Aston Villa.
They were also in the same Scotland under-19 side before Littlejohn switched allegiance. A foot injury has kept the midfielder out of Villa's opening games of the season, with manager Carla Ward pushing Corsie forward.
The Aberdonian, who played at No 6 in two of Scotland's Euro 2017 games, was back in her accustomed – and most effective – position on Thursday. She and Sophie Howard ensured the latter's former Hoffenheim team-mate, Austria's prolific striker Nicole Billa, barely got a sight of goal.
BIZARRELY, given they devised a play-off formula which would have exercised the mind of Albert Einstein, Uefa haven't insisted on all three second round games kicking off at the same time on Tuesday.
The outcomes are, after all, inter-related. But with Portugal v Iceland and Switzerland v Wales starting two hours earlier, Scotland will know in advance exactly where they stand in relation to qualification.
They must, at a minimum, beat Ireland. And they should be spared February's inter-confederation play-offs in New Zealand if they achieve that and Iceland or Switzerland lose.
