Pedro Martinez Losa made all the right noises in the aftermath of Scotland’s fairly insipid draw with Finland at Easter Road on Friday night.
Scotland only need one goal. The result is the same for both teams. The tie is very much alive. All true.
But equally true is that the balance of the tie is tipped in favour of Finland who will feel emboldened by the point they took against Scotland.
With home advantage in Helsinki for Tuesday’s second leg, one suspects they will ask deeper questions of Scotland.
Martinez Losa’s remit when he was appointed as manager of the women’s national team in 2021 was to get Scotland back to a major tournament. The World Cup in 2019 was still fresh in the minds, albeit the wounds of the fallout at that time remained visible.
Defeat to the Republic of Ireland at Hampden to deny Scotland a place at last summer’s Women’s World Cup was no barrier to a fresh contract offer for the Spaniard who signed an extension to his deal last September.
Read more:
- Scotland manager admits Finland game was 'not the nicest to watch'
- Hearts to appoint former Scotland manager in transformative new role
This time last year Scotland were battered by England at Hampden in a Nations League group that was more than simply sobering.
Scotland have regrouped since then. They went into these play-offs on the back of solid results, encouraging performances and with lots of talk that this is a team who deserve to be competing on the biggest stages, against the best teams.
Yet there was nothing of that aggression or conviction on show. If Scotland are to prevail – and it is still within their grasp – the performance needs to be night and day from what it was on Friday night.
Eartha Cumings was by far the busier of both goalkeepers while her opposite number had little of note to cope with.
It is worth pointing out that Scotland are the last team to beat Finland in Finland so anyone looking for a bit of hope can find it, should they tend to a glass half full philosophy.
But they won’t find it on the evidence of Friday’s night game.
It was a turgid and flat affair. That may not be entirely unusual in a two-legged play-off final when the stakes are so high for both teams and there is an inevitable anxiety within the game.
What was notable, though, was the lack of courage within the game. Scotland looked inhibited by the challenge rather than excited by it.
Erin Cuthbert had suggested before the game that she was sick of talking about it and wanted to give everything she had to say on the matter into a performance on the pitch. But she was unable to influence or dictate in the middle of the park.
Ditto Caroline Weir. The Real Madrid midfielder has been flying in Spain after her return from an ACL injury but Finland shackled her – and Scotland – on Friday night.
For a team who had gone into the game on the back of a sequence of eight games unbeaten, the confidence ought to have been oozing out of Scotland, as it was when they played Hungary last month to get to the play-off final.
Perhaps it is a mental thing; Finland ended Scotland’s last European Championships campaign four years ago at the same venue around the same time of year. There is historically very little between the teams – the Finns beat Scotland in a penalty shoot-out in the Pinatar Cup in February this year – but it was the visitors who looked the more assured at Easter Road.
Scotland need to ramp it up in Helsinki if they are to harbour any serious ambition of being at the Euros rather than with their noses pressed against the glass this summer.
Read more:
- Celtic to honour passing of former player against Ross County
- Why Rodgers is sure Arne Engels will come good at Celtic
AND ANOTHER THING
Celtic manager Elena Sadiku was named Women’s Manager of the Year at an awards dinner at Hampden last night.
It would have felt a little parochial when compared to the company she ended the week keeping.
While the Swede would have been delighted to accept the accolade, of far more significance is her name on FIFA’s ‘The Best’ shortlist. It is unlikely that Sadiku would be oblivious to the attention she has received in recent months but her presence on such a prestigious and globally renowned celebration would underline how much of a hot ticket she is at the minute.
The Swede, the youngest coach in the men’s or women’s Champions League, has made a bit of a name for herself since taking over the Celtic job at the start of the year.
Having led Celtic to the their first ever title and to a place in the group stages of the Champions League for the first time, it will be interesting to see whether or not she is still at the club after this season.
AND FINALLY
Who can name the recent winners of the BBC Women’s Player of the Year? This year’s winner, Barbra Branda, has his hit the headlines and for obvious reasons.
The cynic within would suggest that there was a reason for why Branda was given the award and it would be interesting to read the details of the reasons why the player was designated to be the best in the women’s game.
The award’s shortlist was decided by a panel of independent football experts with the winner selected by public vote.
But there is a serious need for legislation of what constitutes a male and female player.
The danger here for women is that women’s sport, which has been the subject of a longstanding battle for equality and recognition, is under threat of erosion.
