U21 Women hold their own against world No.1 Netherlands

Scotland U21 women faced one of their toughest challenges in the U21 European Championships so far as they took on world No.1 Netherlands, with the Dutch showing their strength in a 4-0 victory. Despite the result, Scotland showed resilience, discipline and determination throughout the match, competing against the very best in the world on the international stage.

 

The Scots set out with a clear plan to frustrate the Dutch, focusing on defensive tactics, aiming to make the game as difficult for the opposition as possible. That approach was rewarded as Scotland held Netherlands to 0-0 until the 40th minute, showing impressive composure.

 

The defensive effort was the standout feature, with the whole squad contributing to strong structure. Even with Scotland conceding lots of penalty corners, the girls stood strong with their penalty corner defence with great work from the runners and goalkeeper to hold back Dutch pressure.

 

Scotland also created opportunities of their own, with a well worked midfield steal leading to a promising attack into the Netherlands circle and a shot that forced a good save from the Dutch goalkeeper. A goal at that stage would have been a deserved reward for the team’s effort.

 

Despite Netherlands eventually finding a way through, Scotland continued to compete and show their discipline against the world champions, with a final score of 4-0. That effort will be crucial in their last two games.

 

This result follows two narrow defeats to England and Spain, where Scotland felt they deserved more. This performance provided the boost that they needed ahead of the next phase of competition. With fixtures against Wales and Ireland still to come in the placement matches, Scotland remain focused on pushing for the top 6 in the pool of Europe’s best.

 

Gavin Byers, Head coach, said “It’s always difficult to take positives in defeat, but I think now we’re in Phase 2 of the tournament. If we can play like that and efend like that and get our attack flowing then we can give it a really good go against Wales and Ireland. Lots to play for and the girls are in good spirits. We’re looking forward to rest day tomorrow and we’re buzzing to get back out on the pitch and give the last two games a good go.”

 

Scotland’s next match is against Wales on the 31st July at 5:50pm.

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