A historic day for women's football in Scotland as the national side had the opportunity to play at the national stadium. Spain are the opposition in the first of the two legs of the EURO2013 play-off time to get to the finals in Sweden next year. The early stages were as per usual as the sides sized each other up. Scotland were playing with a high defensive line to shorten the wide open spaces of Hampden. Spain were keen to exploit the width of the pitch and Sonia Bermudez sent over an inviting cross in the fifth minute that just needed a teammates head to knock it into the net. Thankfully, there was not one available and Scotland could breath again. The crowd may not have been massive but thanks to the branded noise makers handed out by the SFA they were making a tremendous noise backing Scotland. A freekick on the left from Erika Vazquez was sent in with accuracy and Sandra Vilanova managed to get her head to it. Gemma Fay in the Scotland goal was pleased to see it go past her right hand post with Spain's claims for a corner being ignored by referee Esther Staubi from Switzerland. The danger of playing with a high defensive line is that speedy players can spring the offside trap and Scotland will have to be careful that players like Silvia Meseguer and Bermudez do not get the benefit of the doubt when running onto a through ball. Scotland had their first real chance to test the Spanish keeper in the 20th minute when Jane Ross stepped inside her marker on the edge of the box and brought out a fine parry from Ainhoa Tirapu. 25 minute and Scotland sent in a corner from the left from Megan Sneddon met perfectly by Jennifer Beattie, it hit the post and a Spanish arm as the defence attempted to clear the area. Penalty awarded and Arsenal's Kim Little made no mistake from the spot. A good start to the 180 minutes. Unfortunately the Spanish managed to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd when they equalised in the30 minute. Bermudez sent in a shot which Fay failed to hold and it hit off a defender and then Adriana Martin's knee and into the net. Spain could see that moves down the left were paying dividends with Bermudez getting past Rachael Small on several occasions to put in a tempting cross. With three minutes to go to half-time the ball hit off Rhonda Jones arm for Spain to get a penalty. Fay made two fantastic saves and the score stayed at 1-1 as she guessed right for the direction of Martin's shot and follow up. Scotland would have been boosted by the penalty save but they still had a lot of work to do to get the better of the visitors. Scotland coach Anna Signeul made a change early in the second half bringing on Emma Mitchell for Glasgow City's Jane Ross in an attempt to liven the attack. Mitchell was soon up to the speed of the game and sent in a stinging shot that Tirapu was pleased to gather. Scotland were spending a lot of time in Spain's half but were not making best use of the opportunities that presented. Scotland were in a bit of a dilemma as they wanted to make best use of the bigger Hampden pitch but the physicality required to get the ball to players in space was just not available. Both sets of players were starting to feel tired as the game wore on as they were playing at high tempo but over a larger pitch. Mistakes were creeping in with passes and this could end up being the undoing of one of the sides. Fay had to be alert and brave to dive at the feet of Valaquez in the 72nd minute at her right hand post as the Spaniard would have had a tap in. Scotland's forays to the danger area for Spain were being hampered by the players not being able to be close enough with their passes with the players due to receive the ball being frustrated as their opposite numbers snuffed out the threat. Signeul brought on Suzanne Grant for Turbine Potsdam's Lisa Evans for the last eight minutes hoping the Celtic player' fresh legs could make a difference. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be and the Scotland squad will be heading to Madrid with a degree of fear on the plane. Just one goal and the dream of Sweden may be over. Scotland: Fay, Jones, Small, Love, Lauder, Little, Sneddon, Beattie, Ross (J), Corsie, EvansSubs: Lynn, McSorley, Ross (L), Grant, Fernon, Brown, Mitchell Spain: Tirapu, Nicolau, Garcia (R), Bermudez, Martin, Vilanova, Hermoso, Meseguer, Ibarra, Torrejon, VazquezSubs: Jose Pons, Landa, Dieguez, Romero, Boquete, Calderon, Garcia (D)
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
