Latest news with #Andreatta
Scotsman
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Scotland's young talents have proven their worth and can help us achieve tournament dream says 25-cap star
The Scotland and Liverpool defender believes the nation's young stars have proven they are deserving of international recognition. Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland and Liverpool defender Jenna Clark believes the nation's young domestic talents have already proven why they can help end their six-year tournament exile ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign. Clark, who celebrated reaching her 25th international cap in the impressive 1-1 Nations League draw with the Netherlands earlier this month, has hailed new head coach Melissa Andreatta's decision to include several Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) players in his maiden squad earlier this month. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There were six representatives from the SWPL in Scotland's starting XI in Tilburg that night, with Andreatta's decision to blood several new faces from the Scottish top flight playing dividends after Celtic's Emma Lawton and Hibs striker Kathleen McGovern combined superbly for the team's equalising goal against the Dutch. 'It shines a spotlight on the Scottish league and how well it is doing, and how much it has changed,' Clarke told The Scotsman. 'The gap before, when international football was accelerating and Scottish football was maybe still at the same point, was bigger. Now when players come in [from the SWPL], they are up to the level straight away. As long as that can keep happening, it is a good thing.' And Clark, who won several league titles with Glasgow City as a youngster before moving to Liverpool in 2023, has been encouraged by what she sees developing in the early days of Andreatta's reign. The 23-yearold believes rise of the professional women's domestic game in Scotland will be of huge benefit the national team, and revealing why she believes Andreatta's decision to blood the country's up and coming youngsters early is a huge plus. Alessia Russo of Arsenal runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Jenna Clark of Liverpool during the Barclays Women's Super League match between Liverpool and Arsenal last year. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images 'It's competitiveness across the league,' said Clarke. 'You'd maybe have the top two or three, but the growth of the game, and seeing more teams invest, more teams going semi-pro and professional. The full league as a whole is looking a lot more competitive. At lot us of us down here were watching it last season. It was exciting, and it could have went any way. Club investment has been massive. Women's football has grown in Scotland a lot. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'For young players, it's a good to be in that professional environment. It helped me massively. At 15, 16, and the time I spent at Glasgow City, I was playing with the best players in the country, players who were playing for their national team. They were setting professional standards before professionalism was even mentioned in women's football in Scotland. Scotland's Jenna Clark (left) and England's Lauren Hemp battle for the ball during the UEFA Women's Nations League Group A1 match at Hampden Park. | PA 'Not just on the pitch, but off the pitch. Looking after what you're eating, your recovery, preparing for your next game, your next training session. It helped me massively, the players and coaching staff around me I had from a young age instilled that in me to get me where I am now. I'm 23, I feel like I've got good experience and those years were fundamental to me. I'm big on looking after myself off the pitch, and I had a mature environment at a young age.
The Herald Scotland
07-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Early Melissa Andreatta signs look good for Scotland
Read more: 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.
STV News
04-06-2025
- General
- STV News
Andreatta: Scotland unlucky not to leave Netherlands with a win
Scotland boss Melissa Andreatta thought her relegated side were unlucky not to win after they picked up their first point in the Nations League with a 1-1 draw away to the Netherlands. Already-relegated Scotland fell behind when midfielder Jill Roord put the hosts in front – and they were in position for a sixth defeat from a possible six – but Andreatta's side got themselves on level terms courtesy of Kathleen McGovern's 27th-minute equaliser. Scotland were not happy with just the point and pushed for a winning goal after the break, but Netherlands had goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar to thank for their point after she made a string of saves in the second period. Andreatta was happy with her side's performance, telling BBC Scotland: 'With that performance. We earned that result. 'Especially when you think about the last 24 hours that we had, I think that showed what this team is about. That was established long before me but they put in a great performance tonight. 'We've talked a lot about belief. There's things that can happen that are out of your control but if you can focus on what you can control, the football, then you can get the result. 'I was really pleased. I think we did start well then the Netherlands started to dominate. We did a tactical change, got a foothold back in the game and we were unlucky to conceded that chance but I think we dominated the second half and were unlucky not to win.' Andreatta was appointed head coach of the Scotland side in April and after they fell to defeat in their first match against Austria but it did not take long for them to finally secure a result. She insisted the team had done well in the early stages of her reign, adding: 'The growth of this team with only five or six sessions, players finishing seasons, I'm excited now to take all this in. 'We have a bit of a break and we'll start again in October and get a chance to look at players who aren't even here. This is a good way to finish this campaign. 'There's nothing like being in the environment, being involved in match day. I think now it's about consolidating the learnings and maximising the strengths of everyone in this team.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BBC News
03-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Netherlands 1-1 Scotland: Have your say
After Melissa Andreatta's second game in charge, has your opinion changed on the new manager? What did you make of the 1-1 draw away to the Netherlands?Let us know your thoughts
STV News
03-06-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Scotland boss Melissa Andreatta looking for momentum against Netherlands
Scotland head coach Melissa Andreatta aims to carry some momentum into her first away game in charge despite suffering relegation from UEFA Women's Nations League A in her debut. The Australian saw her first match end in a 1-0 defeat by Austria to make it seven games without a win for Scotland. But she was encouraged by elements of the second-half display ahead of the final game of the group, against the Netherlands in Tilburg on Tuesday. Andreatta said on the Scottish Football Association website: 'We've gone back and looked at the areas that we need to work on from the game on Friday and we'll look to start against the Netherlands with the momentum that we saw in the second half against Austria. 'I think I have a good baseline now to understand where we're at and some areas to work on to get where we want to be. 'I really believe in this group and what I want to see is a team that takes another step forward, that we're on the front foot at the right moments in the game.' Andreatta has called up Charlton full-back Charlotte Newsham from the under-23 squad after losing Amy Rodgers and Nicola Docherty. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
