Scotland v Austria: Pain of missing Euros drives Jen Beattie on for World Cup play-offs
- Published
Women's World Cup play-offs: Scotland v Austria |
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Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Thursday, 6 October Kick-off: 19:35 BST |
Coverage: Watch on BBC Alba & iPlayer, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app, highlights on BBC Scotland & iPlayer from 22:30 |
Jen Beattie says missing out on Euro 2022 was "really, really tough" as the Scotland defender sets her sights on a World Cup return.
Scotland must beat Austria at Hampden on Thursday to set up a play-off final with Republic of Ireland.
Beattie played at Euro 2017 and the 2019 World Cup but had to settle for being a spectator over the summer.
"As much as it was amazing to see, you want to be on the pitch, you want Scotland to be there," said Beattie.
"That's what what was happening on the group chat the whole of the summer, we need to get to this World Cup."
The 31-year-old, with 141 caps, attended matches in England to cheer on some of her Arsenal colleagues, with the host nation going on to win the tournament.
"It was incredible being at the stadiums and watching them not just perform well but succeed and win it," she explained. "There was a sense of pride that we play with them at club level, but, of course, a huge part of that was missing out on such a huge spectacle and knowing that we'd qualified for 2017 and 2019. Missing out was really, really tough."
If Scotland can get past Euro 2022 quarter-finalists Austria, they would meet the Irish, again at Hampden, in a one-off game next Tuesday. The team left standing will take one of two automatic spots at next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand - or be placed in a further inter-continental play-off.
"We're just looking at this Austria game and whatever way we have to qualify we'll do it," said Beattie, who hopes to make the most of home advantage.
"When the SFA announced that we were having the qualifiers at Hampden that was a huge boost for us," she said. "That's our home, that's where we want to play. We feel the best when we play there.
"It's a better experience for the fans too. It's getting better and better and the crowd is growing and growing, but we need to focus on making a better product."
With Scotland falling a long way short of reaching Euro 2022, Shelley Kerr was replaced by head coach Pedro Martinez Losa, who then steered the team to a comfortable second place behind his native Spain in World Cup qualifying.
"The manager's attention to detail was something we definitely needed as a group and I think that's starting to show in our performances," added Beattie.