Erin Cuthbert on ‘hate’ football after World Cup heartbreak in Scotland: ‘I needed time’

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Chelsea’s Erin Cuthubert said he “hated” football after opening the World Cup openly in Paris, adding that it took time to rediscover his love of football.

The 22-year-old Irwin-Cuthart represented her country at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but the Scots failed to make it out of the group stages.

Scotland were beaten 2–1 by England in their first Group D game, and a loss to Japan by this score forced them to defeat Argentina.

Scotland led Argentina 3–0 with the third score with 21–0 and the 16th round remaining, but Argentina made an incredible comeback – including a 94th-place retake penalty. Minute – To send Scots crashing.

Cuthbert’s dramatic exit of his country after Paris affected his mental health after the tournament and questioned his place in the game.

Speaking on the players’ podcast, Cuthart said, “It was tough. It was really tough and I think the months following the World Cup have been the hardest of my life. For me, my career has been quite good. I know that a lot of Scottish players had never been to the tournament before so I felt incredibly lucky and still feel incredibly lucky. But I think this is the first time I have a little refrain after the World Cup. It took me a long time to recover.

“As a young player, I was really struggling, because Scotland is my home. It means a bloody world for my country to play. It’s amazing to be able to play these games and I’ll be completely honest here , There was nothing. Worse than coming home and watching the game and watching other teams. Looking at Japan, seeing England in our group, there was nothing worse.

“I really hated it. I hated football. I really hated it. I felt how I felt. I really did. Football is a love / hate game and I realize now that you can’t be too high. You also cannot fall short on lows, as it seems.

Cuthbert says disappointment rests on his Chelsea career, his concern to boss Emma Hayes: “I went back to the club and hated football.

“All the girls were talking about it, and I didn’t want to talk about it. I really, really didn’t want to talk about it because I was so upset by what happened that night in Paris. And I will always remember this Paris, I hate it.

“We only had two and a half weeks [before pre-season]. I went on vacation. I forgot it I did not come home to see my family. I didn’t want to live in Scotland because we had such a large profile and I didn’t want anyone to see me and I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me because it just wasn’t the case.

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Katahbert in action for Chelsea

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“I quit and then I came back and got hurt. Emma Hayes told me weeks ago, ‘Your head isn’t in it, you don’t look good.’ She was like, “I care about you. And then, literally, a week later when I did my ankle training too bad, the day before we went on a presiden tour, and I stayed behind.

“It was probably the loneliest part because when you are in London you have your partner and really it is for me. As much as you’re trying to expand your network, it’s just your team, and I really didn’t have any when your team wasn’t here, so it was difficult. But I am still very grateful for it because I needed time away from football to enjoy football and get my love again because after the World Cup I hated the sport so much.