UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship – Round 1
Iceland 0 – 2 Scotland
Tuesday, 1 October 2024
Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld

Score

Iceland 0

Scotland 2 (English 8’, McDonald 58’)

As it happened…

It was a strong start for Scotland as they looked to put Iceland to the test immediately and it didn’t take long for Michael McArdle’s side to break the deadlock. Neve McDonald lined up a shot on 8 minutes which rattled the crossbar, Mae English was ready to collect the rebound from close range to make it 1-nil to Scotland.

Iceland continued to absorb pressure with Amy Sharkey looking lively but it was around the half-hour mark that Iceland enjoyed a flurry of pressure. The young Scots successfully defended three successive corners and a free-kick whipped in from captain Siguroardottir, but the danger was cleared by McGoldrick at the back-post.

Captain Jess Husband worked tirelessly up and down the right wing to pose a constant threat, but it was Scotland who went into the half-time break with a one goal advantage.

A minute after the restart, McGoldrick had an opportunity to double the lead for Scotland but couldn’t get her shot on target. Iceland continued on the ascendency as the two sides settled into the second-half but it was Scotland who put the ball in the net with McDonald securing the two-goal advantage. Sophie Black the supplier with McDonald sliding the ball under the Icelandic ‘keeper on 58 minutes.

Scotland made their first change of the game on 64 minutes, Lily Boyce made way for 15-year-old Ava Crawford. Goal-scorer Mae English also made way for Izzy Young a few minutes later.

Scotland’s experience began to shine with continued and improved composure as the game progressed and slick passing offering the Iceland players very few opportunities to break through.

With 5 minutes to go, Syrjanen and Oluwadara entered the fray in place of Sharkey and McGoldrick. Iceland continued to push for a consolation with a shot palmed on to the post by an impressive Galt in injury time, but Scotland remained two goals to the good.

A solid performance for Scotland with a clean sheet and three points to kick off the round 1 qualifiers.

Post-Match Thoughts

Head coach, Michael McArdle: “Today I’m absolutely delighted with the identity that we played with. The way we played is an extension of the hard work that we’ve been doing for the last 18 months, both at club level and in NextGen. Something we’ve worked really hard at is our identity and instilling the importance of winning every dual and you saw that today against Iceland who are a very strong and physical team.

“The result is great, but the performance is the most important thing. We’re on a journey and there is a lot of improvement still to happen. Friday will be a new challenge against Northern Ireland and as a home-nation it’ll bring something different but we know what we want to do and how we want to do it. They won’t let us play and they’ll be very assertive but need to be able to cope with that challenge.

Midfielder, Sophie Black: “I thought we worked really hard for each other today and there’s a real togetherness in the camp that you could see on the pitch. We put on a good performance and got the points that we needed.

“We have a good core of experience in the squad but it’s really exciting to see new faces coming through and every single player contributed today whether they made it on to the pitch or not.

“Today, we had a gameplan for Iceland and we stuck to it really well. We’ll take the positives from this game into Friday and identify the areas that we need to work on and hopefully build on this result.”

Forward, Neve McDonald: “I’m really happy – it means so much to represent Scotland but to score and provide an assist for the team is brilliant. I’m really proud of the way we played today, just delighted to contribute and get the win and a clean sheet.

“We went out there and performed like a proper Scotland team and that’s why everyone should be so proud today. My Dad drove all the way here this morning to watch me play and that meant everything to me that he was here.

“We need to take all this positivity from this performance into Friday against Northern Ireland and make sure we don’t let the standard drop. We’ve set the benchmark now and we need to keep pushing forward.”

Teams

Scotland: Galt, Husband, Dawson, Fraser, Boyce (Crawford 64’), English (Young 66’), McGoldrick (Syrjanen 85’), Sharkey (Ositelu 85’), Black, Burn, McDonald

Unused subs: Armitage, McStay, Hayes, Stewart, Selbie

Iceland: Arnardottir, Ingadottir, Palmadottir, Barboza, Kristjansdottir, Palmadottir, Siguroardottir, Johannesdottir, Arnarsdottir, Oskarsdottir, Bjornsdottir