Early Melissa Andreatta signs look good for Scotland

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

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The Aussie was smart enough post-match to douse any exuberance over a draw with some cold water reality as she maintained that this is a squad who have a lot of work ahead of them.
She's not wrong.
But if there was a throwback in the white tactics board that appeared pitchside to offer very clear guidelines of roles and responsibilities, there was an equally straightforward approach on the pitch.
Scotland still look porous at the back but there was a very Scottish feel to how they approached the game against the Dutch, particularly in the second period. It was gritty, aggressive but more importantly, it was direct.
It sometimes appears to be lost in translation that getting the ball into the box is the only way to score goals. It has been a massive part of Scotland's failure across three doomed qualification campaigns.
The past, of course, is a different country but rewind to that World Cup, the last time that Scotland were at a major tournament, and the fall from where this national side were to where they are now requires binoculars to appreciate the distance.
The now infamous game against Argentina was played to an audience of millions around the world. The fallout from it was never fully addressed, nor fully accounted for and left a toxicity within the squad that wormed its rotten way to its core.
Time has moved on and still the ghosts of that time linger. The only way they will ever be properly exorcised is by getting back to a major tournament. It is also the only way that there can be any appreciable growth within the Scottish game both at international and domestic level.
Playing in front of a Hampden crowd at 10 per cent capacity is a grim look for the national side. The interest in the team has long waned since that send off to France with the friendly against Jamaica when 18,555 turned up to send them on their way.
There is an apathy about the national team, reflected in consistently poor attendances and an indifference about performances and results.
The chance to harness the energy of 2019 is long gone, lamentable as it is.
So when Andreatta and Caroline Weir suggested that the full focus is now on World Cup qualification, it is not getting ahead of themselves.
Scotland need to get back to the top table.
Andreatta's first impressions have been positive but she will be keenly aware that judgment will come when it matters.
What is inarguable is that she has players of genuine quality at her disposal. Weir and Erin Cuthbert need to be deployed in a way that allows them to showcase their best, which has not always been the case with Scotland in recent years.
Both are mixing it week in, week out, at elite level. They are the conduit between the old and the new as Scotland transitions into a new era but there is talent within this squad.
Mia McAulay at just 18 has a gallusness to how she plays. There is more to come from her, of course, as she makes her way in the national team but there is clearly an energy and drive there that can only be to Scotland's advantage.
Further on in their careers, Emma Lawton and Kathleen McGovern will both feel that they did themselves no harm at all last week. Lawton's ball that was whipped in for McGovern to score is exactly the quality that Scotland have lacked.
There is respite of sorts before there is a hook-up in the autumn to kick-off the qualifiers.
Scotland need to take the chance they have to make up lost ground.
AND ANOTHER THING
COACH Elena Sadiku looks set for another season at Celtic with an understanding that the players have been told that she expects to be in situ for another campaign.
The Swede has credit in the bank from taking the team to their first title and their first foray into the group stages of the Champions League.
Sadiku was keen to offer a reminder at the tail end of this season that her side are history makers. It is inarguable but she will be well aware that there cannot be a repeat of a season where Celtic finish fourth in the league and are dumped out of both domestic cups at early stages.
AND FINALLY
Kathleen McGovern became the first Hibs player to score for the national team since 2009 when she netted against Netherlands on Tuesday night.
It has been an exceptional campaign for the 22-year-old who made the jump across the city from Hearts to Grant Scott's side last summer.
With 25 goals bagged this season as Hibs claimed the title, her international goal will make a few more take notice.
The struggle for the Hibees this summer might be in keeping hold of the players that delivered them such success.