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Scotland boss Pedro Martinez Losa plays down 'we will win' claim ahead of Euros playoff By Alison Mcconnell Published: 22:30, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 22:30, 28 October 2024 e-mail View comments Scotland boss Pedro Martinez Losa has played down the notion that he provided Hungary with extra motivation ahead of their Euro 2025 play-off by bullishly insisting his team ‘would not lose’ the crucial second leg at Easter Road on Tuesday night. The Spaniard’s boast will have been duly noted by the visitors and pinned up on a dressing room wall after Martha Thomas gave the Scots a precious 1-0 lead in last Friday’s first leg in Budapest. After the victory, Martinez Losa said, 'there is no way we are going to lose the game at home in Scotland’, but has since dismissed the potentially damaging impact his words could have on the women’s team’s chances of reaching their first major finals since 2019.
Asked if he stood by his assertion, he claimed that his words were simply a reflection of the team’s mindset and an attempt to build up the hype ahead of the game. ‘Well, I was referring more (to) the motivation in the group and the confidence that we have, while respecting the opponent,’ he said. ‘But, also, we got a result the other day through the way that the game was (played), and I think that is an aspect that the team is doing now consistently.
‘We are excited about having very talented players coming back to the squad. And that gives us confidence that we can offer a good game to our fans. Pedro Martinez Losa says his comments after the first leg were an attempt to motivate his team The Scotland boss is confident his players have what it takes to win the second leg at Easter Road Martha Thomas scored the goal that gives Scotland an advantage in their playoff against Hungary ‘It (his assertion) was more the excitement after the game, to come back home with building the atmosphere with everyone and be able to face this challenge together.
‘What you speak at the end of the game is about how you feel. ‘You have to live the moment. Tonight is going to be about leadership, about personality, about the gameplan and also if the players can express it on the pitch.
And I’m sure they will do it. ‘For me, the team is ready to play at a major tournament. The result will dictate whether my words were the right ones.
‘But, of course, this game is a special opportunity for Hungary, too. We need to be okay with that in certain moments. How to deal with frustration, how to deal with moments when you score goals, how to stay concentrated.
.. that is the challenge.
’ Whether his words were wise or not, Martinez Losa is adamant he has otherwise left no stone unturned in his attempts to lead the Scots to the first major finals of his time in charge. If they progress, they will face the winners of the tie between Finland and Montenegro in the final round of the play-offs. If they lose, the brutal hangover which followed his team’s failure to make it past the Republic of Ireland two years ago to reach the World Cup will only return.
It was the second successive major tournament Scotland have missed, and Martinez Losa has employed mental health guru Jeffrey Webster in an attempt to help his players deal with any psychological scarring from that episode and look more positively to the future. ‘We work with every single player individually,’ he said. ‘We work with the group.
We work with the message that we want the team to take, but we know that just having a mental coach on its own is not going to be the magic recipe. ‘But, yes, we have addressed how our previous experiences were positive or not in certain aspects and we have tried to work on that and what aspect of the game that we cannot control.’ Kick-off: 7.
35pm, Easter Road. TV: LIVE BBC Scotland, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website. Referee: Ivana Projkovska (North Macedonia).
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