England manager Mark Sampson hopes a history lesson will spur the Lionesses to Euro 2017 glory against Scotland
Sampson said he wanted the Lionesses to know why the rivalry is so intense
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Mark Sampson has revealed that he gave his England team a history lesson ahead of tonight's Women’s European Championship match against Scotland, so that his players better understand just how desperate their opponents will be to upset the Auld Enemy.
The two teams go head to head in Utrecht this evening, as both look to begin their Euro 2017 campaigns on a winning note.
On paper, the match is something of a mismatch. England are among the favourites to win the tournament while Scotland – hampered by the loss to injury of their world-class playmaker Kim Little and star defender Jennifer Beattie – are hoping just to survive the group stage.
But Sampson is taking no chances, and admitted ahead of the match that he has been teaching his players about what makes the Scots tick, and why they will be so desperate to beat the World Cup bronze medalists in their opening game.
He said: “Did we have a history lesson? We did, yes. Every time we play an opponent in a major tournament we want our players to understand their 'why'.
“Our 'why' is that we want to inspire the nation, and we want to win for our family and friends and become the best team in the world.
“We need to know what their 'why' is because they have gone into great depths to try to find a way to beat this England team.
“For us to understand why they'd be willing to do that is really important to us. So now we know that, we can ensure our motivation levels are right and we can find a way to win what's going to be a very difficult football match.”
Skipper Steph Houghton also reflected on the significance of the footballing rivalry between England and Scotland and said that she would be taking inspiration from Paul Gascoigne for the group stage clash.
She said: “It's a massive game, probably the biggest. I remember watching England v Scotland when I was younger when Paul Gascoigne scored the winner at Euro 96.”
Although Sampson says his side will not underestimate Scotland, the England manager is already dreaming of leading the Lionesses to European glory and has urged his squad to look forward to next month’s final, at De Grolsch Veste in Enschede.
The England women’s team has never won a major tournament, but Sampson’s side are seen as one of the teams to beat in the Netherlands.
“The message we’re giving the players is, ‘These three weeks change the next 50 years,’” he added. “Three weeks of hard work and we’ve got 50 years to live as legends. We can make history and spend the rest of our lives as champions.”
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