Latest news with #SophieHoward
BBC News
06-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Scotland won't qualify for tournaments any time soon'
We asked for your views on Scotland's 4-0 defeat against Germany in the Women's Nations what some of you said:Brian: An absolutely disgraceful performance, team needs a complete overhaul. No fight, no passion and no hope. We travelled down from Aberdeen for that This is no surprise, Scotland are a second or third tier level side. No matter where the game is played they're nowhere near good enough to challenge the big sides, and Germany are certainly one of Germany had better shape, better attacking options, and just all round looked more likely to score. Fair play to Scotland, they looked as though they weren't beaten, but Germany always looked like champions in the I knew there was no chance of a victory, it was just a case of how many would the Germans score. The players put a lot of effort in but they are not going to be in any tournament any time soon Sophie Howard leaves a weakness in the centre of defence - was slow to react and caught out of position throughout. The goalkeeper does not look like she is confident. Scotland had control of this game for large periods of the match but did not press into the box much. Lots of random kicking of the ball out from defence that meant the midfield were caught out Proud of Scotland. They had good possession of the ball in the first half and controlled the game. They need to play with more confidence and a unified grit to win. Need to go into the games knowing they belong and deserve to be playing the best in the world. A collective mindset that we can win, not just compete is key, because they can win.
BBC News
01-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Scots can call on 'superpower' v Germany
Uefa Women's Nations League A: Scotland v GermanyVenue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Date: Friday, 4 April Kick-off: 19:35 BSTCoverage: Watch on BBC Alba & iPlayer, listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app Sophie Howard believes Scotland's "superpower" will be required if Germany are to be beaten in Friday's Women's Nations League meeting at Leicester City defender, born and raised in Germany to a Scottish mother and an English father, is not just fluent in German but fully versed in the development of the German game at club and international familiarity, as well as the fact the Germans may not know so much about the Scots, could help interim head coach Michael McArdle's side get the better of the team ranked third in the world."I've got an advantage in that I know a lot of the players," Howard explained. "I've seen them for many, many years and I believe they don't know as much about us as we do about them and that can be our superpower on Friday."You always go in wanting to win, why do we play football otherwise? We're fully aware a lot has to go right for us to come out on top."I'm convinced we can perform and compete with Germany, a top nation. We just need to be at our best."Scotland have lost their past three matches to Finland, Austria and The Netherlands and could presumably do with a morale-boosting significant scalp of Germany would certainly fit into that category, although Howard is not getting too preoccupied with results at all cost."What we need is to build internally," she said. "What happens externally with results is sometimes secondary because we need to build on performances to make this sustainable."A one-off result won't solve problems and won't bring back belief. A result can help you but we see every day what we put in and that is more valuable than anything else."
