Scott says England are ready to fight
Monday, August 31, 2009
Article summary
Defender Alex Scott recognises Sweden's quality and admits that England go into the crucial Group C encounter as underdogs but insists that their fighting qualities should not be underestimated.
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Defender Alex Scott says England might be going into their crucial UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ Group C encounter with Sweden as underdogs but added that their fighting qualities mean they should not be underestimated.
Good heart
England have had it tough at the finals so far, losing a player to a red card in a 2-1 defeat by Italy in the first game and then finding themselves 2-0 down against Russia. They stormed back to win that fixture 3-2, though, and it has put them in good heart for the fixture with already-qualified Sweden in Turku.
'Hard game'
"We showed in patches against Russia the football that everyone was saying we could play before the tournament started," said Scott. "Now we have to step up to the challenge again. It will be another hard game and another fight.
'Wonder goal'
"It took a wonder goal from Italy to beat us when we were down to ten players and then against Russia we showed our character to come back. It showed we have something about us. We improved from the first to the second game and now hopefully we can take it to another level. It's about all of us performing to the level we know we can reach."
Only victory
Such has been Sweden's dominance in head-to-head contests that 24-year-old Scott was not even born when England achieved their one and only victory in 19 fixtures, the second leg of the final of the inaugural UEFA Competition for National Representative Women Teams in May 1984. Even then there was a bitter taste in English mouths – for manager Hope Powell as well because she played in that game – as, with the aggregate scores tied at 1-1, Sweden prevailed 4-3 on penalties. More recently, Scott played when England lost 1-0 to Sweden at this stage four years ago to go out of the finals on home soil.
'Underdogs'
"We are probably going into the game as underdogs but we are getting closer and closer and this is another challenge for us," said Scott, who plays alongside Kelly Smith for Boston Breakers in the United States. "We just want the game to come now." The permutations in the group are endless and England could find themselves in first place or last depending on the result of the Russia v Italy game. What is assured is that a win or draw puts England through.
