
Scotland 0-4 Germany: What McArdle said
Scotland interim head coach Michael McArdle: "It was a sore scoreline but I'm very proud of how the girls played. "They were brave, we had a high block, we didn't want to sit back and give them too much space, so very brave in that sense."There's lots of positives that I'm sure we'll reflect on as the days go by but at the moment the scoreline hurts. "Results matter, the League A goes on, the pressure comes more to the Austria game at the end of it. It's about believing, sticking by it. "It's a transitional moment, there's a lot of young players there. Not winning games hurts but that pressure and expectation is a reward for the progress, it's a reward for being in League A and it's part of the journey. "There will be results in the future because of the young players we're bringing through at the moment."

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Scotsman
9 hours ago
- Scotsman
Scotland team v Iceland predicted - defensive shake-up, Kieran Tierney experiment and first start for striker
Scotland begin preparations for the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in September with a friendly double-header this week. Steve Clarke's side face Iceland at Hampden Park on Friday night before travelling to Liechenstein on Monday for their final warm-up match ahead of the bid to reach the tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next year. The Scots are looking to bounce back from a sour end to their Nations League campaign back in March when they succumbed to a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Greece in their League A/B play-off with a 3-0 loss in the second leg at Hampden coming as a major disappointment following the 1-0 away victory in the first leg four days earlier. The setback - which ended a run a three successive victories - meant Scotland lost their place in the top tier of the Nations League as they were relegated back to League B after one campaign in League A. Scotland will now look to restore some positivity against two opponents they will be expected to beat. Iceland have tumbled down the Fifa rankings in recent years after the highs of reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 and qualifying for their first World Cup in 2020. Now down at 74th, they finished third in their Nations League B section behind Wales and Turkey, but in front of Montenegro, who they registered their two wins against. Liechtenstein, meanwhile, are ranked 205th in the world, and lost twice to San Marino in their Nations League D campaign, one of only five teams below them in the rankings. Clarke has a decision to make over his team selection and tactics for both matches. He has named seven uncapped players in his squad but is without regulars Craig Gordon, Kenny McLean, Ryan Christie and Lyndon Dykes through injury. A fully fit Kieran Tierney also resurfaces an old dilemma for Clarke over how to incorporate both the returning Celtic left-back and Liverpool's Andy Robertson in the same starting line-up with a possible return to a back three, or an experimental option at his disposal. Here is how we predict Clarke could line up against Iceland at Hampden on Friday... 1 . Angus Gunn - GK The currently unattached 29-year-old goalkeeper following his Norwich City exit will likely be brought back in to start for his 16th cap in place of the injured Craig Gordon. | SNS Group Photo Sales 2 . Max Johnston - RB A home friendly against Iceland feels like the right time to give the 21-year-old Sturm Graz right-back his chance in the Scotland starting XI after a breakthrough season in Austria, which culminated in a second successive league title win and appearances in the Champions League. | SNS Group Photo Sales 3 . John Souttar - RCB After years of injury trouble, the Rangers defender appears to have finally cemented his status as a first-choice centre-back for Scotland. In line to win his 16th cap. | SNS Group Photo Sales 4 . Scott McKenna - LCB A puzzling one. The Las Palmas centre-back who played almost every week in La Liga, and starred in victories over Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, albeit before suffering relegation, has been kept out of the Scotland starting line-up by a Grant Hanley who couldn't get a game for either Norwich or Birmingham last season. Now must surely be the time to give the Souttar-McKenna partnership a chance, which, on paper, should be Scotland's strongest centre-back pairing. | SNS Group Photo Sales


Belfast Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Northern Ireland know path to top flight after discovering Nations League Play-Off opponents
After finishing second in their group thanks to their final round draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland know only a two-legged tie stands between them and a place in League A. However, they have been handed a tough draw against Iceland, who are ranked 13th in the world and have qualified for the last four European Championships, with the upcoming Euro 2025 their fifth consecutive appearance. Boasting players such as West Ham's Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, Madrid's Hildur Antonsdóttir and Leicester City's Hlín Eiríksdóttir, Iceland will be formidable opponents for Northern Ireland. Oxtoby will be cursing her luck as they could have been drawn against Austria (18th) or Belgium (20th), who will face the Republic of Ireland, although they did avoid the best nation in the draw in 12th-ranked Denmark. However, there will be a glimmer of hope in that Þorsteinn Halldórsson's side haven't won a match since July 16, losing five of their last ten outings and drawing the remainder. Northern Ireland finished second in League B1 behind unbeaten Poland as home wins over Bosnia and Romania, coupled with a pair of 1-1 draws away against the same opponents, saw them secure a Play-Off spot. The two Play-Off games will both be played in October, with the exact dates and venues to be confirmed at a later date.


BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
'To play in Scotland in front of a lot of fans was always a target'
Goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger sees his move to Hibs as a step up in his career and can't wait to play in front of the "amazing" fans at Easter 29-year-old Austrian arrives on a three-year deal from Hartberg having spent his entire career in his homeland and Germany."I'm very happy. Hibs is a great club with great fans in a great city. I'm very much looking forward to being here and playing successful football," Sallinger told Hibs TV."For me it was always a target for me to play outside of Austria. Austria is a good league, but in Germany, Scotland or the UK football is different."To be in Scotland and to play in front of a lot of fans was always a target for me."I hope I can help the team a lot and I hope that we can reach our targets, and also get into a European group stage. Maybe we can even have a better season than last season."I've watched the last two Hibs games and the fans in the crowd are really impressive, especially after the game against Rangers when the fans were singing Sunshine On Leith. It was pretty amazing and pretty impressive to me."I'm looking forward to having this feeling on the pitch."