Scotland women’s manager Melissa Andreatta has said that Scotland should embrace the challenge of the FIFA World Cup play-offs rather than be intimidated by them.
The women’s team have been paired against Czechia in their first play-off World Cup qualifier, which will take place in October. Should they successfully negotiate that one, they will then take on Sweden, who have been semi-finalists in three of the last four Women’s World Cups.
“With the trajectory we are on in this journey, anything is possible,” said Andreatta, in reference to Scotland winning their League B group. “On our day, rankings aside, I think we can take on anyone.
“When you get to the latter stages of qualification and if you do look to tournament football, every match is tough and gets tougher. My mindset is that it doesn’t matter which order you play these great teams. You have to play them at some point.
“We will play them as we get them, and we will be as prepared and ready as possible; that earns us the right to the points and to progress. It is not about the name next to the opponent but about what we are going to do to prepare for the game.
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“Preparations have already started in terms of our processes and what we do. I have 20 years of experience and six major tournaments as an assistant coach so I will be drawing on all of that experience, but I have confidence in our performance to go to get the result that we want.”
Andreatta has not been Stateside to see Steve Clarke’s side, but she is well aware just what it means to the Tartan Army to be there. The Scotland fans have partied in Boston with Andreatta desperate to lead the women’s national team to Brazil and their first major tournament since 2019.
“When the boys qualified, I knew how much it meant to them. I have just come from Edinburgh airport with lots of Scotland fans coming and going to the World Cup and the excitement is real and the passion is undeniable.
“Of course we want to be a part of that, but we just can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We are realistic and know there is a lot of hard work to be done, and we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.
“We have to focus on game one, and that is a formidable opponent. I have said it from the beginning about this team. It is a team of possibility, opportunity and potential.”
