In the first match of the Europa League group stage, Bournemouth defeated Real Sociedad 2-1 away from home, securing their first official victory in Europe in the club's history. After the match, Scott was interviewed and discussed the team's second-half performance, the significance of holding onto the victory, and upcoming topics including the Liverpool match and England squad selection.

Alex, that must feel absolutely fantastic, doesn't it? Even if you might be exhausted.

Yes, very exhausted, I'm shattered. It was a very tough battle. It was our first European match, and we knew we had to give everything. In the end, we got the result we wanted. The final 10 minutes were a bit tense, but everyone dug in and held firm to secure the victory.

You certainly showed resilience until the end, and your goalkeeper saved you once or twice.

Yes. That last save, actually I think I lost focus on the far post, so I definitely owe him one. He's a top-class goalkeeper, and in many matches, he's been the one who's kept us solid. Of course, he made a mistake last week, but that's normal, that's football. He has a great mentality and knows how to bounce back from mistakes. He certainly did that today.

For a young player, I don't know if you've really thought about all of this over the past few days, or even last night. It's like a dream, isn't it?

To be honest, looking at the age of some of the players now, I don't feel young anymore. But yes, it's certainly very exciting. The anticipation has been there since we qualified last season.

But for us, we feel we belong here. Especially considering our performance last season, I feel we earned our place in this competition. Today, we also showed the level we can reach. Hopefully, we can continue this performance.

You had a great start, didn't you? I imagine that's exactly the kind of start you all wanted.

Yes, I think we're always very quick out of the blocks, and we did that well. But our second-half performance wasn't really good, and that's certainly something we need to look at and address seriously. Similar situations have happened in our Premier League matches.

However, we know it will be very difficult playing away from home, so we had to start quickly from the beginning and play intensely. I think especially in the first 25 minutes, we showed how much we wanted to perform well in this match. We scored in the first half.

At halftime, we also talked about leading 2-0, which is perhaps one of the most dangerous advantages in any competition. So the second half was really difficult. But as I said, we dug in and held firm to secure the victory.

I think the closing stages were even tougher because similar situations happened in previous Premier League matches, where you've had to pay the price for conceding late goals.

Of course. But when we're actually out on the pitch, I don't think those things are constantly on our minds. But yes, it's true—this is a recurring situation for us in our Premier League matches this season. So to be able to hold on until the end today, not to concede in the closing stages, and to win this match, the feeling is truly fantastic.

Outside of the League Cup, this is our first victory, which is very important for us. Hopefully, we can carry this performance into Sunday.

Sunday's match is important too, isn't it? It's what a successful team competing in Europe has to face. Now you're facing Iraola and Liverpool.

Yes, for us, playing on Thursday and then again on Sunday is clearly still a new schedule. And our former manager is coming back, so it will be a great match. Liverpool are a very good team, and we know that well.

But for us, what matters is recovering well now and then being ready to compete again. I think we're a team that can handle this situation; we have a very strong squad. If needed, we can also rotate. Either way, we'll be ready on Sunday.

Last question—I remember Thomas Tuchel will announce the England squad tomorrow. Do you have anything you'd like to say to us? Or not?

I don't know anything yet. Of course, I hope to be selected. I say that every time I'm asked. It's always been my dream to be part of the England squad. I hope I can wear the England shirt. But if not, I'll keep working hard in my matches. Hopefully, I can get into the England squad in the future.

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