Scotland concluded their European Championship qualifying campaign with a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Portugal in a match played in Cyprus due to the current Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The players went into the match in a confident mood after a 10-0 victory over Cyprus in their previous game but goals from Ana Capeta and Fatima Pinto secured the victory that means the Scots finish third in Group E, with Finland qualifying for the finals in England as group winners and Portugal reaching the play-offs.
Scotland interim head coach Stuart McLaren: “One of the key points was to dominate possession but have a purpose to it, and I think the players did that very well. Unfortunately, and it’s maybe reflective of the campaign, we just didn’t have that finishing product often enough in the final third.
“We all know how important the first goal is in a game of football. We didn’t get it and we were obviously culpable in a sense. It’s a good press from Portugal but we invited that press. The second one is purely trying to keep as many bodies up the pitch as we possibly can.
“Disappointed in the result but really, really pleased with the performance in terms of the application of the aspects of football that we asked the girls to go and apply.
“Nothing has changed from my perspective. I was asked by the association to take on the interim role. I’ve done that now for the two games so unless anything changes then I’ll go back to my role as the U16 national team coach on the men’s side. If something changes within that, I’ll deal with that as it comes.
“There’s obviously a process in place from the hierarchy to make sure that we get the very best candidate to be the new head coach of the Scottish women’s national team and whoever that will be will be (revealed) in the course of time.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
