Scotland Women 0-1 Republic of Ireland Women: Heartbreak for Scots as Ireland reach their first World Cup
Scotland missed out on the chance to qualify for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after a 1-0 play-off defeat to the Republic of Ireland. Substitute Amber Barrett scored the only goal of the game with 18 minutes remaining to send the visitors to their first ever World Cup.
Scotland did have their fair share of chances (with 19 attempts compared to Ireland’s 11). Scotland’s biggest opportunity came after just 14 minutes when Real Madrid forward Caroline Weir had the chance to score from the spot. However, her penalty was saved by Irish ‘keeper Courtney Brosnan, who stood out as one of the best players on the pitch. After missing the penalty, the home side’s confidence was knocked as a few misplaced passes allowed Ireland to break forward and test the Scottish defence.
The interval came at a good time for Scotland, meaning Pedro Martinez Losa’s side could regroup, however, results weren’t going in their favour. With Portugal winning 4-1 in their game against Switzerland, Scotland needed to win by a three-goal margin to qualify automatically. A victory by a lesser margin would have resulted in an intercontinental play-off, whereas all Ireland needed to do was win.
In the second-half, Scotland had chances aplenty but didn’t overly threaten Ireland’s rigid back five. Eventually, Scotland would rue those missed chances when they were carved open by a beautiful ball forward from North Carolina Courage midfielder Denise O'Sullivan who played in Amber Barrett for her fifth goal in Irish colours.
The match saw a record crowd of 10,708 flock to Hampden to cheer the side on the International Day of the Girl. Everyone in the national stadium knew that they could be witnessing a piece of history: Scotland were within touching distance of reaching consecutive World Cup’s and Ireland were aiming to reach the tournament for the first time.
The visitors were the ones celebrating this time around. Vera Pauw’s team were extremely disciplined and every member of that squad knew their role. It was organisation and unwavering focus which saw them over the line, therefore writing them into Irish football folklore forever.
Pedro Martinez Losa’s first qualifying campaign in charge of Scotland has untimely ended in failure, so what’s next for him? In fairness to Martinez Losa, he has won almost half (47%) of his games in the dugout so far, so he should be secure for now. However, his contract runs out next summer, meaning he will need to prove his worth over the next year or so.
Overall, Ireland deserved their victory and that performance will surely have inspired many a young girl to pursue their footballing dream.