Scotland vs Sweden Match Review

A strong Scotland side seen themselves the losers of their glamour friendly against Sweden on Tuesday. The Olympic silver medallists left St Mirren Park after finding the net twice.

Scotland were able to hold their own against Sweden in the first half and in an energetic start to the game, Caroline Weir looked to test Jennifer Falk early on, but her right-footed effort from outside the box was suffocated by the Swedish goalkeeper. The visitors began to affirm their excellence, enjoying large spells of possession in Scotland territory but were unsuccessful in testing Jenna Fife. It took until the half hour mark before Scotland’s keeper was called in to action, tipping over a Filippa Angeldal shot which was assisted by the gusty wind in Paisley. Moments later, Fife was again in action, denying the visitors their first goal with a clever save down low using her legs.

On the 70th minute, the visitors took the lead when Swedish substitute Fridolina Rolfo struck a roaring effort into the top corner from the edge of the box. With mere minutes remaining, Sweden expanded their lead when a threatening ball into the box was bundled over the line after sadly bouncing off Scottish substitute Sophie Howard, and beyond Fife making it 2-0 as the final whistle blew.

Head Coach Pedro Martinez Losa said: “I think we put on an outstanding performance. I think the players gave everything they could, they followed the plan to perfection. The second goal was an accident as a product of little adjustment defensively, for the other 95 minutes we played perfectly.

“We didn’t underestimate their physicality and we were able to be capable and equal in the game in different ways to give them a game and have the feeling that we can be strong and compete against these strong teams.”

Scotland are back in action against Ukraine in November for another World Cup qualifying match. Looking on to his game Martinez Losa said:" We know here we are now we know that the players can give us a better performance, it’s about the players being confident and that they get the belief of what they can do together and can follow a game plan.

“Today was one game plan tomorrow will be another but they know as a group they can get a good victory.

“This is a group with different generations of players that can bring different things in terms of leadership and in terms of building the strategy for the future.”

Scotland team before the match