Serbia 0 Scotland 0: Underwhelming draw to start Euros campaign

It also means that Scotland are still without a competitive win since October 2022. The same failings that undermined the World Cup and Nations League campaign were still visible with Scotland toiling to create any real menace up front.

Pedro Martinez Losa attributed that lack of bite in the final third to the well-documented injuries that Scotland have had to contend with – and there was another last night as goalkeeper Sandy MacIver had to go off after just eight minutes and hobbled onto the plane home on crutches.

Veteran striker Jane Ross clipped the crossbar shortly after coming off the bench at the break but there was a lack of any real penetration for Scotland. “It is not a concern,” said the Scotland manager, in reference to Scotland’s difficulty in finding a path to goal.

“We know that we have to work on it. But we have seven players who would be in the squad who are not at this camp. We are conscious of the standards and we bring in players to bring energy and passion and try to do their best.  I don’t know that any team missing seven players would not miss them.”

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The Spaniard accepted that his side could well have found themselves on the end of a defeat. With a little more composure in front of goal Serbia would have taken the spoils with Jovana Damnjanovic hitting a tame effort off of Lee Gibson’s knees after a slip from Sophie Howard had sent her through. 

Prior to that, Nicola Docherty had to halt a surging run from Allegra Poljak as she drove at goal with only Gibson to beat.

Scotland can only qualify for next year’s European Championships in Switzerland via the play-offs and need to finish in the top three of this group of four. That in itself should not be beyond them, even after this dispiriting start to the campaign, but there is no clear evidence that would to Scotland being at a level capable of getting a result against elite opposition.

It was disjointed for large spells against a Serbian side that will arguably be the toughest opponents that Scotland will face. But it does frame Tuesday night’s game at Hampden as a must-win, even this early on. Slovakia beat Israel 2-0 in their opening encounter and Scotland can ill afford any kind of chasm to open up.

Martinez Losa inevitably dismissed any talk of pressure at this stage but Scotland badly need a performance and result that can ensure talk of being back at major tournaments is more than just a fanciful notion.

“It is about qualifying for the Euros,” said the Spaniard. “That was this campaign is about. Every game is pressure. I am used to it. I have been working like this since I was 18 years old. It is about winning and the next challenge for us to beat Slovakia. We know that if we finish first, second or third in the group then we can qualify for the play-offs and, ultimately, make it to the European Championships. Since the draw was made our ambition is to finish first in this group and that has not changed.” 

MacIver looks unlikely to feature on Tuesday night after she landed awkwardly when claiming what looked like a fairly routine ball. Martinez Losa had no immediate update on her condition but it did not look good for the Manchester City stopper.

“She was unbalanced and landed on her knee,” said Martinez Losa. “Immediately after the game, I have no update on what the extent of the injury is but quite clearly she could not carry on.  These elements are uncontrollable in games and I think the team were not overly put off by that.

“Lee is a very experienced goalkeeper and she was able to come in.

“But overall I would say that in that game there were moments where we could have won the game and moments where we could have lost it. We are capable of getting the win over Slovakia at Hampden on Tuesday and I also think that we are capable of beating Serbia, the hardest team in the group, when we play them back in Scotland.”