Needing three points to keep their hopes of remaining in League A of the UEFA Women’s Nations League alive, Pedro Martinez Losa’s Scotland travelled to Belgium on Friday to play out the penultimate game of their inaugural campaign.
BEL: Evrard; Deloose, Kees, de Caigny, Tysiak, Cayman; Missipo, Detruyer, Vanhaevermaet; Wullaert, Blom
SCO: MacIver; Docherty, Clark, Corsie; Kerr; Brown, Cuthbert, MacLean, Evans; Thomas, Emslie
Marie Detruyer struck first gold after thirty minutes at Leuven’s Den Dreef Stadium, after the visitors had been left to rue a number of missed opportunities within the first half-hour – including a tame strike that Erin Cuthbert failed to threaten Nicky Evrard with.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut she would make amends for that squandered chance in the 34th minute, thundering home from distance after exploiting large spaces in the Belgian midfield. Truthfully, it had been nothing less than deserved.
Jenna Clark and Scottish stalwart Hayley Lauder both sought to find the elusive winner on the outskirts of Bruxelles, but to no avail – as Martínez Losa’s side were forced to settle for a draw, confirming their relegation to League B for the next UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign.
While their match against England on Tuesday will now have no bearing on their future in this competition, there’s still plenty to play for – although bizarrely, a loss would favour the Scots. Should England prevail at Hampden Park and the Netherlands fail to beat Belgium, England will progress to the semifinals and edge closer to securing Team GB’s participation at the 2024 Olympics.