Livingston footballer Hayley Lauder admits being named in the Scotland Women’s World Cup squad is a ‘dream come true’.
The 28-year-old is closing in on 100 caps for her country but admits the chance to be part of Scotland’s first-ever women’s World Cup squad is something she never thought possible when she first started kicking a ball.
Speaking to the Courier, she said: “It’s a bit of a dream come true. When you’re little and just playing recreational football I don’t think you realise that one day this might happen. It’s just not something you think is possible.
“I’m very proud to be part of it and just can’t wait now.”
She added: “This is the group that has really helped to push women’s football forward in Scotland.
“Before there were obviously a huge number of people who put lots of work into the game and players who have had to deal with women’s football not being culturally a big thing but in terms of the team now, we’ve been together for so many years and have that bond.
“It’s all come together at the right time for women’s football in Scotland. If you see the calibre of player coming through in the past few years, it’s great.
“We have folk now like Erin Cuthbert who are genuinely world class so it can only be good for the game.”
Before heading to France, the team will take on Jamaica in a friendly at Hampden on Tuesday night and Hayley is hoping they will be given a fitting send-off.
She said: “We’ve got Jamaica on Tuesday at Hampden, which will be amazing. We fly out on June 5 and our first game is four days later.
“It’s all going to go so fast, I might not have the chance to take it all in. I played at Hampden before when we drew 1-1 with Spain in a play-off for the Euros. We got about 4000 fans but we’re hoping there will be much more than that.
“It would be a perfect send-off to be playing in front of a big crowd at the national stadium.”
The Scots, who will be led in the tournament in France next month by Polbeth’s Shelley Kerr, will take on England, Japan and Argentina in the group stages and the defender believes they have more than a fighting chance of progressing to the knock-out phase.
She added: “With the group we have, we will be aiming to progress. It’s going to be very tough but that’s what we have to look at achieving.
“We’ve got England, Japan – who have won it before - and Argentina so all three games are going to be a real challenge but with the group of players we’ve got we’re aiming to get out of the group.
“That’s all we can really control. It’s the old cliché of one game at a time but we definitely want to get into the next round and we’ll just see what happens.”
