Appearances can be deceptive. A 5-1 win would not suggest an edginess about an evening but this was a fraught concluding FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification tie for Scotland who, once more, had Caroline Weir to thank for another avalanche of goals.
A hat-trick on Friday and four last night in Budapest. Israel will be delighted to see the back of her.
But with goals raining down in Luxembourg in the game between them and Belgium, this was a night when Scotland came within a whisker of being knocked off the top spot. As it is, they prevailed to finish the campaign top courtesy of a better goal difference of one, unbeaten and on their way back to Nations League A. They will now be seeded for the autumn play-offs games as they look to make their way back to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since 2019.
“We had the tech in place so we knew in the technical area what was going on in the other game,” said Andreatta.
“But I was calm. I didn’t communicate any of what was going in the Belgium game to the players on the pitch but what I could sense from them was a hunger and desire to keep going and keep scoring.
“I felt really confident. It is a great achievement for them to go and top the group and they should enjoy this moment. We know there are some pretty big games ahead of us now but it is a great achievement for us to have finished where we have. I am incredibly proud of them."
There was no Erin Cuthbert for Scotland after the knee injury she sustained on Friday evening meant a premature return home.
It proved to be business as usual, however, even without the tenacity of Cuthert in the middle of the park. Weir picked up where she left off on Friday night with another goal, the first of the evening to get Andreatta’s side up and running.
Having collected on the edge of the box, the midfielder worked her way along the line arching a left-foot after past Israel goalkeeper Fortuna Rubin. Clark doubled Scotland’s lead when she turned in Kathleen McGovern’s cross.
It meant that, as they had on Friday night, Scotland headed into the break with a two-goal cushion. Andreatta had stressed that they could not afford to look at what was going on in the game between Luxembourg and Belgium but it was inevitable as both games played out and both fought it ought for the top spot in the group that news would filter through.
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McGovern missed a chance to add a third for Scotland after the restart when she couldn’t quite get behind an awkward bounce of the ball that allowed Rubin to collect.
When former Glasgow City forward Vital Kats pulled one back for Israel just before the hour mark, Scotland got a little more jittery.
They controlled the game but couldn’t generate the same clinical edge that they had shown days earlier. When news came through that Belgium had scored a third against Luxembourg – a goal that cut Scotland’s goal difference advantage down to just two – there was a palpable sense of anxiety.
Andreatta rang the changes with Emma Lawton, Christy Grimshaw and Kirsty Howat introduced while Rachel McLauchlan, Kathleen McGovern and Chelsea Cornet made way. With news of another Belgium goal coming through and just a goal between the two teams, Scotland badly needed another goal.
It came somewhat fortuitously from the spot after Israel were penalised for the use of a hand in a cluttered box. Weir took the resultant spot kick, driving the effort low to the goalkeeper’s left to give Scotland some much needed breathing space.
They were significantly more relieved moments later when Weir completed her hat-trick with a wonderful goal. Amy Muir was the provider, sliding a corner to the midfielder whose effort thumped off the underside of the bar before going into the back of the net.
Howat came close to a fifth but was denied at the last moment but as the flurry of goals kept coming from Luxembourg, the tension remained within the game.
Again, it was Weir to whom Scotland turned with a fourth goal – her seventh goal in two games – as Andreatta’s side kept their noses in front at the top of League B. Even then the finale was tense – Luxembourg’s seventh goal meant that until the whistle went there was a nervousness despite the scale of the win.
“All I can say about Caroline is that I am glad she is on my team,” joked Andreatta. “I don’t have the vocabulary to be able to come up with all the superlatives that we could say about her performances.
“But what I love about her is that she will be the first one to applaud the group and say how proud she is of the team-mates who are round about her. And that is what she does – she brings everyone up.
“She has this fantastic leadership that makes everyone have a sense of belief and you can see, of course, just what a wonderful talent that she is. She is a fantastic footballer and I was delighted with her to go and make her mark across these games the way that she has. We are just delighted to have her.”
