Jill Scott said she and her England teammates endured a sleepless night after Tuesday’s agonising semi-final defeat to the USA but added they are now determined to beat Sweden in Saturday’s third-place play-off.
It is something of a deja vu moment for the veteran midfielder, who collected a bronze medal in Canada four years ago. “You feel lower than a snake’s belly,” said Scott as she relaxed in the Mediterranean sunshine at England’s latest beachside base, in Nice on Thursday. “But in a weird way 2015 felt like a bigger blow because we lost that semi-final to Japan with literally the last kick of the game.
“One of my proudest moments, though, was the way that squad picked ourselves up and went and beat Germany in the play-off. I got my medal framed and, if we win this one, I’ll get it framed too. I’m devastated we haven’t given the nation a final to look forward to but desperate to end this tournament on a high.”
Scott revealed she and the bulk of the squad spent Tuesday night sitting up having a post-mortem discussion. “With 11 million people at home watching on television you feel a kind of pressure,” she said. “These bad moments don’t get easier as you get older, in fact they hurt more because you know there’ll be fewer future opportunities.
“Losing a semi-final is shattering; you’re so low, but we’ve got to somehow get ourselves back up and take something good out of this tournament. But I’m not going to lie, it hurts and it’s definitely going to hurt for a long time.
“I’m not even over 2015, that still hurts, it really does. I’m still gutted about Canada. It’s the best job in the world but there’s so many more lows than highs.”
With the passage of time, the 32-year-old Manchester City stalwart will surely be able to reflect on a personally excellent tournament in which Phil Neville selected her for every game and she proved one of England’s outstanding individuals.
While that second bronze medal is still to be secured Scott already has one memento: a black eye inflicted by a stray American elbow. “I’ve given out a few in my time so there will be a few girls in our league back home who think I’m owed this one,” she said, smiling. “I’ll take it, for them.”