Pedro Martinez Losa inspired to reach World Cup with Scotland by daughter

Pedro Martinez Losa File Photo
(Image credit: Andrew Milligan)

Pedro Martinez Losa has a special supporter behind his bid to take Scotland’s women’s national team to the 2023 World Cup.

The Scots sit second behind runaway Group B winners Spain and secured a qualifying play-off spot following Tuesday night’s 2-0 win for Ukraine over Hungary.

Scotland will travel to the Faroe Islands for their last qualifier in September knowing they will take part in the play-offs in October.

Martinez Losa, who took over the Hampden Park hot seat last summer, revealed he has the enthusiasm of his daughter Anabela as further inspiration in his quest to reach the finals which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

The former Bordeaux women and Arsenal WFC boss, said: “You look to your heart for why you do things. You look to your family and the people you love.

“I have a four-year-old daughter in London who asks me every single day about me going to Scotland, she is asking to see photos of the team and the games.

“She is very excited to come to games and for her daddy to play in a World Cup with Scotland so it (qualification) will mean my whole life because I put 24 hours per day into Scotland, the players and the staff and as a leader of the group that is my obligation.

“We are excited. To have the opportunity to potentially play in a second World Cup with Scotland, it is our whole life, our whole work, not just about me but the players and staff.”

The 46-year-old Spaniard reflected on an impressive 4-0 win over Ukraine in Poland last Friday but continues to look for improvement.

He said: “In many phases of the game we were very good but we still can do better.

“Every game we prepare with many details and every game is a journey.

“The secret of high performances is that in every game we analyse the details, how we can exploit the weaknesses of the opponent and what kind of game we want to play.

“We want to build our game more, like total football, where we can master all the phases of the game.

“Obviously we are not mastering all the phases of the game or we would be world champions or something like that but we are aiming to master phases on the ball with more consistency.

“The team is on the right route but now we have to be more consistent, more concentrated to go to the next level and we can only do it together.”