Match report
An email from Simon McMahon: “ Comparisons with Euro 96?” he asks. “England doing the Scots a favour, Scotland unable to get the second goal that would take them through. Men or women, it seems Scotland will find a way not to qualify.”
Full-time: Scotland 1-0 Spain
Scotland are out! It was a heroic effort from Scotland, who defied the odds to beat Spain, but couldn’t win by the two-goal margin required. They rode their luck at times, but had the chances to win this game by more than one goal.
Leanne Crichton had the pick of them and will have sleepless nights mulling over her extraordinary volleyed miss from close range. Meanwhile in Tilburg, England have beaten Portugal, which means they advance to the quarter-finals as group winners, with Spain going through in second place.
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90+2 min: Weir launches the ball into the penalty area, Scotland threaten briefly but Spain eventually clear. It’s all over!
90+2 min: Marta Corredera shoots from distance and Gemma Fay saves. Scotland win a free-kick just inside the Spain half and this is surely their last chance to get the ball forward.
90+1 min: We’re into the first of two recommended minutes of added time and Spain have the ball.
90 min: Spain win a corner and then a throw-in deep, deep in Scotland territory. Understandably, their players are in no particular rush to take either. Scotland need to get the ball up the other end of the field.
88 min: The match enters its knockings with Scotland winning, but not by enough. They need another goal! In Tilburg, England are holding up their end of the bargain by beating Portugal.
86 min: Another free-kick for Scotland, deep in Spain territory on the right touchline. Caroline Weir curls a left-footed cross towards the far post, where a dense thicket of red bodies prevents Leanne Crichton from gewtting her head to the ball. Good delivery from Weir mind; certainly better than her previous one.
85 min: Lana Clelland is fouled, so Scotland have a free-kick wide on the left. Caroline Weir sends the ball into the penalty area, where Spain goalkeeper Sandra Panos claims it unopposed.
83 min: Spain substitution I didn’t get around to telling you about a couple of minutes ago: Mariona Caldentey off, Barbara Latorre on.
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79 min: Ifeoma Dieke clears one off the line with a header to keep Scottish hopes alive, performing miracles to keep Maria Paz’s header out. The Spanish player was already celebrating, but was cruelly denied. Moments previously, Gemma Fay had saved well to keep out a Alexia Putellas header that was fizzing goalwards. This is edge-of-the-seat stuff.
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77 min: Another Scotland counter-attack is nipped in the bud when Caroline Weir is crowded off the ball while trying to advance up the pitch. She didn’t have the necessary speed.
75 min: A leaden-footed first touch from Caroline Weir gifts possession back to Spain with Scotland on the counter-attack and looking dangerous. Scotland are defending deep in numbers and need another goal.
73 min: Scotland substitution: Fiona Brown on for Joanne Love.
71 min: Vicky Losada goes down under a challenge from Frankie Brown while trying to control a delivery into the Scotland penalty area. My first impression was that she was tripped and ought to have got a penalty, but we’ll see what the replay shows ... if we’re given one to look at. Referee Jana Adamkova seemed in no doubt and was well positioned.
68 min: Erin Cuthbert is penalised for a foul on her new marker, Marta Corredera. Free-kick for Spain, halfway inside the Scotland half. Silvia Meseguer floats the ball into the box from where it’s only half-cleared. Mariona Caldentey floats the ball into the box again, from where Maria Paz skims a header wide from six or seven yards. That’s a bad miss - will Spain pay for all these missed chances?
67 min: Spain are dominating again, with Scotland’s players starting to visibly tire from their first half efforts and all the shadow-chasing those efforts entailed.
64 min: Spain attack down the left flank, with the cross coming in from Alexia Putellas. It’s headed clear by Rachel Corsie. Moments later, Silvia Meseguer cuts in from the right and hammers the cross-bar with a fine rising effort from distance. That was a wonderful shot.
62 min: Gemma Fay flaps at a long cross from deep, but enjoys another let-off as the ball cannons wide off the chest of Frankie Brown, who is tussling with an opponent. Scotland get the goal-kick, even though Spain should have had the corner.
59 min: Having looked complete no-hopers in the first half, France are growing into this game. Spain’s early dominance has evaporated and they’re starting to look a mite edgy. Assuming both sets of players are aware of the score between England and Portugal, Spain’s are likely to be as nervous as Scotland’s are buoyed.
57 min: Good play from Gemma Fay in the Scotland goal. She spreads herself well, star-jump style, to keep out a close range shot from a narrow angle. From the ensuing corner, Marta Torrejon heads wide. Spain substitution: Marta Corredera on for recently-booked left-back Leila Ouahabi.
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55 min: Leila Ouahabi gets booked for a foul on Erin Cuthbert. Corrections and Clarifications Department: It was Leanne Ross who made way for the substitute Lana Clelland - apologies for the case of mistaken identity.
52 min: Leanne Crichton, who I thought had been substituted but evidently wasn’t, runs her hands through her hair in frustration after volleying high over the bar from three or four yards out when scoring looked far easier. That’s an astonishing miss.
50 min: Nikita Parris boosts Scotland’s chances of advancing to the last eight by firing England ahead against Portugal again. England lead 2-1, which means another goal would see Scotland through. As things stand, England and Spain would go through.
48 min: Spain corner, Which Vicky Losada takes. The ball comes back her way and Erin Cuthbert forced to concede another corner. Alexia Putellas goes close with two consecutive efforts from close range that are blocked. Frankie Brown, it is, who saves the day for Scotland with a block on the line.
Second half: Scotland 1-0 Spain
46 min: There’s one change in personnel on each side as Spain get the ball rolling for the second half. Maria Paz comes in for Spain, with Jennifer Hermoso making way. In the Scottish ranks, Leanne Crichton comes off and is replaced by Lana Clelland. Clelland goes straight in up front with Erin Cuthbert moving to a wide right position in midfield, so it’s as you were formation wisde with Scotland persevering with their 4-5-1.
A word about goalkeeping: While she has pulled off two or three splendid saves, Gemma Fay’s performance in the Scotland goal has been extremely patchy and she’s very lucky not to have been sent off. At the other end of the pitch, her opposite number, Sandra Panos, was badly at fault for the goal her team conceded, while England’s goal against Portugal in the group’s other game was also the result of a comedy goalkeeping blunder. England keeper Siobhan Chamberlain didn’t cover herself in glory for Portugal’s equaliser either. Is there a point to all that? I don’t know - make of it what you will.
Possession stats: Scotland 32%-68% Spain.
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Half-time: Scotland 1-0 Spain
No, really. It’s scarcely credible, but Scotland’s players troop off for their half-time brew, in a match Spain have completely dominated, with the most unlikely of leads. It won’t be enough to see them through to the quarter-finals if things stay as they are, but they’ve given themselves an excellent platform on which to build. They need to win by two goals and hope England beat Portugal. At the moment it’s 1-1 in Group D’s other game.
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GOAL! Scotland 1-0 Spain (Weir)
Unbelievable scenes! Completely against the run of play, Scotland take the lead. A long ball from Leanne Crichton on the halfway line drew Spain goalkeeper Sandra PAnos to the edge of her area. Under pressure from Leanne Ross, she made a complete dog’s breakfast of trying to clear the dropping ball. It broke to Caroline Weir, whose low drive somehow managed to creep over the line despite the best efforts of a frantically back-pedalling Panos.
39 min: Gemma Fay finds herself in the thick of the action once again, deliberately handling the ball outside her own penalty are but getting away with a yellow card. She’s lucky. Free-kick for Spain, which
35 min: Scotland ride their luck, relying on some desperate last-ditch defending to repel two successive Spanish attacks. Goalkeeper Gemma Fay shows her best and worst qualities, getting her team into all sorts of bother with some indecisive dithering before being bailed out by a defender, before pulling off an excellent save an instant later to save their bacon. Moments afterwards she pulls off another smart save from a corner, diving low to her left to keep out a powerful downward header from Jennifer Hermoso. Spain are ramping up the pressure here.
33 min: It remains scoreless in a game Scotland need to win by two clear goals to have any chance of advancing to the knockout stages. They’ve created nothing.
32 min: A good cross from the right flank by Leanne Ross forces Spanish goalkeeper Sandra Panos off her line to punch clear at the near post.
31 min: Better play from Scotland, who win the ball in midfield allowing Caroline Weir to try to pick out Erin Cuthbert with a throw-ball. Offside! Cuthbert mistimed her run and was caught a yard or two offside.
30 min: Another ambitious long ball towards Erin Cuthbert from Frankie Brown goes sailing out of play. Throw-in for Spain, deep inside their own half.
27 min: Spain have a penalty appeal turned down when Alexia Putellas goes down under a challenge from right-back Frankie Brown. Referee Jana Adamkova waves play on and replays show it was the correct decision. Putellas got past Brown, but the defender recovered well to put in a ball-winning tackle that sent the Spanish winger tumbling.
27 min: Spain and Barcelona left-back Leila Ouahabi runs on to a pass from Mariona Caldentey and sends a wild effort high over the bar.
24 min: Scotland Frankie Brown tries to pick out Erin Cuthbert with a long ball, but overhits her pass and sends the ball to the feet of Spanish goalkeeper Sandra Panos. Having failed to create anything even resembling a chance, Scotland are going to need to change their approach here - they’re relying on scraps and look like they could play until this time tomorrow without threatening the Spanish goal.
22 min: Spanish midfielder Amanda Sampedro castigates herself after sending a decent scoring opportunity high and wide with a wild slash from just outside the penalty area.
21 min: Spain float the ball in behind the Scotland defence with Vicky Losada on the chase. She’s offside, but not by much.
19 min: Spain get forward down the right flank, but Joanne Love and Chloe Arthur combine to good effect to hoof the ball long towards Erin Cuthbert, who is completely isolated up front for Scotland. Spain win the ball back and continue their policy of suffocation.
18 min: In the group’s other match, Portugal have equalised against England, in a state of affairs that is anything but good news for the Scotland women.
15 min: Shot! Scotland keeper Gemma Fay is pressed into service again when she’s called upon to deal with a swerving Silva Meseguer effort from distance. She does with a minimum of fuss.
13 min: After a surging yomp through midfield, Caroline Weir picks out Lisa Evans with a diagonal ball out to the left touchline. There’s nobody up in support and in trying to hold the ball up, Evans is forced to settle for winning a throw-in. Nothing comes of it and Spain clear their lines.
12 min: Throw-in for Spain, deep in Scotland territory. Left-back Chloe Arthur does well to win the ball off Caldentey but undoes her good work by sending a hurried pass straight to a red shirt. Scotland are struggling to get out of their own half in these early minutes.
11 min: Spain win a corner, which they take short. The ball’s crossed into the Scotland penalty area, where Caroline Weir heads clear. Playing on the right side of Spain’s midfield, Mariona Caldentey is already looking one of the more accomplished players on show.
9 min: Spain continue to dominate possession here, but Scotland win a throw-in deep in their own half. Chloe Arthur takes it, chucking the ball long, but Spain win it back with a minimum of fuss.
7 min: England are ahead against Portugal. It’s good news for the Scots as Manchester City winger Barcelona’s new winger Toni Duggan has given England an early lead.
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5 min: Perreira tries to send a curling, right-footed effort inside the left upright . It’s a decent shot, but one Scotland goalkeeper Gemma Fay should save easily. She does anything but, allowing the ball to slip between her hands, but lucking out by pushing it on to the post and out for a corner. Nothing comes of it.
4 min: Frankie Brown concedes a free-kick three or four yards outside her own penalty area, a little to the left of the D. She fouled Alexia Putellas and now Andrea Perreira is stepping up to take a shot on goal.
2 min: Lined up in a 4-4-3 formation, Spain’s players start as they intend to continue, dominating possession and forcing Scotland to try and get the ball from them.
Scotland v Spain is go!
1 min: After a long period which the players of both teams spent standing around waiting for the countdown to kick-off, Scotland get the ball rolling on what looks like a sunny evening in Deventer. The players of Scotland are wearing navy shirts, white shorts and navy socks. Spain’s wear red shirts, shorts and socks, with gold trim.
Not long now: The teams are out in the Eagle’s Nest Stadium and the national anthems are being played. Kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Tonight could be Anna Signeul’s last game in charge of Scotland: Scotland’s Swedish manager announced in January that she would be stepping down after her side’s interest in this tournament ended to take charge of the Finland team.
Erin Cuthbert speaks: “We believe we can do it,” says the midfielder who impressed with an equaliser after coming off the bench against Portugal. “We wouldn’t be playing football if we didn’t think we could do it.”
On her goal in defeat against Portugal: “It was very special,” she says. “I was coming on and I wanted to make an impact and I feel I did that. I was just very disappointed we couldn’t go on and win the game.”
Scotland v Spain line-ups ...
Scotland (4-1-4-1): Fay, Brown, Dieke, Corsie, Arthur, Crichton, Evans, Love, Weir, Cuthbert, Ross.
Spain (4-3-3): Panos, Torrejon, Pereira, Parades, Ouahabi, Sampedro, Meseguer, Losada, Caldentey, Hermoso, Putellas
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Team news: Having missed out on Scotland’s defeat at the hands of Portugal through a shoulder injury, striker Jane Ross will be absent again tonight having failed to recover sufficiently. Suffering from a hamstring problem, midfielder Hayley Lauder is unlikely to be fit enough to start but could make an appearance from the bench as she did against Portugal. Her fellow midfielder Rachel Corsie has a nagging knee injury and is also a doubt for tonight’s game.
Scotland in the last chance saloon
Having lost their opening matches against England and Portugal, Scotland Women are in need of something of a miracle in Deventer tonight if they are to reach the knockout stages of these Euros. Anna Signeul’s side have conceded eight goals and scored just one so far, but must beat Spain by at least two goals tonight and hope England can do them good turn by beating Portugal. It’s big ask for a Scotland team at their first major finals, not least one that has failed to beat tonight’s opposition in five attempts. Kick-off is at 7.45pm (BST).
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