Swede and sour for Scots in Paisley
Scotland 0 Sweden 2
TWO goals in the last 20 minutes gave world No.2 side Sweden a deserved win at the SMiSA Stadium but Pedro Martinez Losa praised his side’s effort in a Paisley monsoon.
“It’s not that the result was irrelevant, because we want to compete, but for me the performance of the team was outstanding,” the Scotland head coach said of the friendly.
“We were comfortable on the ball and the whole team followed the game plan to perfection and that’s what we want. It was probably the best game on the ball since I came in.”
The home side already knew they had lost their place at the top of their qualifying group following Spain’s 6-0 win in Ukraine earlier in the day when the game, which was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Walter Smith, kicked off.
Sweden saved their best work for the last five minutes of the half, but somehow Scotland survived with their goal intact. First Madelen Janogy rattled the bar above Jenna Fife with a fierce volley, and then a shot from Filippa Angeldal passed under the goalkeeper’s body for a corner.
The third reprieve, at the end of regulation time, was the biggest. An incredible scramble inside the Scotland box ended with a Janogy shot which Erin Cuthbert cleared off the line.
Sweden brought on three first- choice players after 69 minutes and the triple switch almost immediately paid off. Fridolina Rolfo fired in a powerful shot and although Fife got a hand to it she could not prevent the ball ending up high in the far corner.
Scotland’s best chance arrived 10 minutes from time. Cuthbert hit a well directed free-kick from 25 yards over the wall but Jennifer Falk kept it out at the second attempt. Then, with four minutes remaining, another Swedish substitute, Sofia Jakobsson, sent in a low cross which Sophie Howard – herself a replacement – turned into her own net.