Scotland manager Pedro Martinez Losa reacted with cautious optimism yesterday as the women’s national side were drawn against Hungary in the UEFA European Championship play-offs.
Scotland will travel to play Hungary on Friday 25th October before hosting the second leg on Tuesday the 29th October.
The manager's optimism was grounded in multiple factors; Scotland are unbeaten against Hunagry, whom they have played three times in the last three years, having beaten them twice in their FIFA World Cup qualification campaign before drawing with them at the 2022 Pinatar Cup.
Furthermore, his side go into the play-offs on the back of a restorative campaign in which they finished top of their group following a sequence of five successive victories.
“We have the confidence and the belief we can do it,” said the Spanaird. “We are a very tough opponent that probably nobody wanted to draw.
“Hungary are a young team, a team that we have played before in the qualification campaign for the World Cup. They are a team that has been developing in recent years, improving their levels.
“We expect every team to believe they have a chance – they will be very prepared for their first game at home and will be very competitive away.
“The three matches we have played against them recently give us confidence, though time moves quickly in terms of developing teams’ competitiveness. I am sure we will find a different Hungary, very competitive and prepared, but we are also confident that we can be competitive against any opponent.
“We have had five wins in a row in our campaign and while at some moment this run will finish we want to keep it going as long as we can.”
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Martinez Losa also believes that the echo of recent failed campaigns – most notably the harrowing defeat to the Republic of Ireland at Hampden that cost Scotland a place at last summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup – can be the driving force ahead of these games.
“The extra incentive for these play-offs is missing the tournament last time,” he said.
“We want to focus on the positives and they are the exciting opportunity to play a tournament in Switzerland.
“The first step is to have the level to qualify. The second one is having the mentality that on the day we can be better than our opponents.
“We have had this experience before of being in a play-off to qualify, which gives us confidence and the right mentality for the team.
Should they win the tie they will take on the winners of Montenegro v Finland in another two-legged tie in December.
