Some Thoughts on England vs Scotland

Due to a combination of factors, I unfortunately only got to see parts of Scotland's first match in the Women's World Cup. Which was a shame - I'd been rather looking forward to it. Anyway, some thoughts based on what I did see:

• Sadly, 2-1 was probably about the right result. Although Scotland played pretty well, and especially had some very good phases, they were overall the weaker team. It's also worth noting that there didn't seem to be a specific area where this was true - it seemed mostly to be a matter of a few degrees across the board.
  
• That said, 2-1 is probably the least painful loss possible - that goal means that we only have a goal difference of -1 (which knowing Scotland may be crucial) while also getting us off the mark scoring-wise. And there were plenty of positives to take from the game.
  
• I haven't been able to track down a video of the penalty decision (just the penalty itself). I've heard it's rather harsh, but that may just be because we lost.
  
• With a lot of luck, Japan and Argentina will draw today, and England will then beat both of these teams. That would then give Scotland the best chance of getting through the group.
  
• Our next match is on Friday at 13:30, which is almost exactly when I finish work for the week. So almost no chance of seeing that one either. (Boo!) Guess I'll need to rely on the Radio Scotland commentary.

On another note, I see that the English commentators, while covering the game between France and South Korea, managed to go a whole 17 seconds! before mentioning that England did once win the (men's) World Cup. Apparently, this little-known event occured in 1966. It was good of the BBC to raise the profile of this obscure bit of sporting history, especially when it was so relevant to the events at hand. Good work, you guys!

Anyway, on to the next match, and to Rennes. Huzzah!