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WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: Scott backs England to shine

/noticias.info/ England hope to be in sight of the UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009TM finals by the end of the month as they visit Northern Ireland in Lurgan on Thursday and welcome the unbeaten Czech Republic to Doncaster two weeks later aiming to keep up their perfect record in Group 1. And midfielder Jill Scott is still motivated by their run to the FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-finals last year.

Improvement
Everton LFC player Scott came of age as an England player in China last September, as they progressed past the group stage only to lose to the United States, but it was still a fine performance on their first World Cup qualification in 12 years. "You'll always think you could have gone further, but when you look at the bigger picture we are building for the future and I suppose it was another step up the ladder rather than stepping back," Scott told uefa.com. "Hopefully the EUROs will be that time. Everybody has it in the back of their minds but we don't want to get too carried away, we've got these qualifiers and we are no means thinking we are there yet."

Norway defeat
Victories against Northern Ireland, Belarus and Spain have put England top of Group 1, with no goals conceded, and they limbered up for this month's fixtures with a February training camp in Cyprus, where they lost 2-0 in a friendly to Sweden but then defeated 2005 runners-up Norway 2-1. Scott said: "I think against Sweden we created a lot of chances and felt we didn't deserve to lose that game. But we got a game and it was a chance for people to gain experience. Then we played really well against Norway and that will take us into the qualifier against Northern Ireland."

Exulted status
Thanks to their World Cup qualifying performance, England are top seeds in this group and favourites to take the guaranteed finals place in Finland as pool winners. But Scott, 21, knows the odds can be upset have helped Everton end Arsenal LFC's 58-game domestic winning run to win last week's FA Women's Premier League Cup final, though that does not mean she shirks off England's new exulted status. "I think we enjoy being favourites, we know that we can beat the teams and work hard and we've shown that so far," Scott said. "Hopefully we can keep that going when we travel to Ireland."

Home side's hope
As for Northern Ireland, they had to get through the preliminary round to reach the main qualifying phase, but have since suffered four defeats including a 4-0 reverse in England. Kelly Baillie will captain the side for the first time in a competitive match and said: "Every game we play is important but playing England seems slightly more so. This match will no doubt be the most important in our history and every player will want to get on and do their bit for Northern Ireland." notas_de_prensa_archivo