Cold conditions, hot stakes: Scotland’s quest for Euro qualification

If they are to prevail, the performance needs to be significantly better than it was in the first leg at Easter Road on Friday night. Insipid and tentative, Scotland failed to come up with one decent shot on target across the entirety of the 90 minutes.

It now becomes a winner-takes-it-all battle this evening with Martinez Losa confident that his side are capable of making it to Switzerland.

“We need to be extremely focussed, extremely organised and we need to be brave,” said the Spaniard.

“But, as I have told the players, we deserve to be here. We are unbeaten this year. We have shown that we are good enough to go and play at this level but we know that we are facing a team who also want to be on the same stage.

(Image: PA)

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“Being unbeaten all year hasn’t happened just because the weather is good. We are a good team. This is an historic moment now, an opportunity to make history and we are confident that we can go and do that.

“It is not going to be an easy game. It is a small pitch, an artificial surface and we know that it is to be sub-zero temperatures tonight. It will be a different game to the game on Friday and now just because this can go to extra-time and penalties.

“I think the nature of a first-leg play-off tie can always be tense. Players maybe do not make the same passes that they might in another game, there is an element of tension in the game.

Scotland missed out on qualification to last summer’s FIFA women’s World Cup whey lost to the Republic of Ireland at Hampden in the play-off final. It was the last time they were within similar touching distance to being at a major tournament with Martinez Losa confident that his side are in a better place now than they were then.

“I think we are more mature as a team,” he said. “I think collectively and individually we have improved. I know that the players are hungry but we also know that we are playing a team who will be equally determined to go and get to the Euros.”

Martinez Losa has insisted that he remains unperturbed about the magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead of Scotland this evening.

Scotland are the last team to beat Finland on home soil and the likelihood is that it will need a big display tonight to get to the Euros at their expense.

Certainly, though, the Spaniard is relaxed as he maintained that he has every faith in his players.

“We feel confident,” he said. “I am excited. It is an opportunity. Football is always unpredictable but we are excited. I don’t sense that the players are nervous. I think we are all looking forward to the game. 

“We knew the dangers of Finland on Friday nightand we knew where they may try to hurt us. But we are professional and we have to trust in the process.

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“They are an uncomfortable opponent to play and to get to Euros we need to be able to cope with that and to beat them. We need to be able to handle all of it – the mental aspect of the game and what is at stake, the duels, the set-plays, the danger that they carry in the final third.

“But also we know that this is a big opportunity for us to go and get to the European Championships. As a squad that is what this year has been all about. The girls know they have a fantastic opportunity and they want to go and take it.

“It is an historic moment for us. As a team we want to consistently be qualifying for tournaments, which is what Finland have been successful at doing across recent years. We have practiced penalties because we know that it may come down to that.

“We are prepared for all eventualities within the game. It is so important that we are organised and stay focused at all times because it is going to be a huge challenge but it is one that we are excited by.”