Exclusive:Scotland ace reveals why 'raw' Euros exit must act as watershed moment under 'hungry ' new boss
Scotland’s Jenna Clark believes the appointment of Melissa Andreatta can provide a springboard to finally return to a major tournament.
Scotland defender Jenna Clark admits the ‘raw’ pain of missing out on the Women’s European Championship this summer leaves her in two minds about whether she will be able to even watch the tournament this summer.
The third successive tournament that Scotland have been forced to watch from home, their 2-0 defeat to Finland in the Euro 2025 playoffs saw Pedro Martinez Losa’s reign as the national team boss come to a crashing end. The Spanish head coach dismissed less than a week after the painful defeat in Helsinki, his replacement Melissa Andreatta arrived in late April.
While Martinez Losa will have other things on his mind this summer as he begins his stint in charge at the Liga MX Femenil side Tigres, for Liverpool centre-back Clark, the pain of missing out on this summer’s tournament in Switzerland still rankles.
“As much as I was in and around the squad during the World Cup disappointment, I felt a lot more hurt by the Euros campaign,” Clark exclusively told The Scotsman. “I’m don’t know how I’m going to feel when it’s on [Euro 2025]. We’ve [Liverpool] got a couple of players in the team who are going, and you’re buzzing for them, but there’s a part of me that’s going ‘it could have been us’. We’ve got good players, we are more than capable of qualifying for a major tournament.
“Is it overdue? Or is it underperformance, or not the right balance - I’m not too sure. The Euros being on this summer makes it raw. I’d experienced the full campaign and everything that went into it. I was just really hurt after the game - it was a really emotional time. I never want to feel like that again. The next tournament is two years away, but the determination to get there is sitting in place already. That disappointment will be a massive motivation for the next campaign.”
After an apathetic three-year stint under Martinez Losa, head coach Andreatta has been able to inject an early dose of positivity with a battling 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in the Nations League earlier this month. Arguably the better side in Tilburg, supporters were encouraged by what they witnessed from their side, with the 46-year-old making a strong first impression in her debut camp as the new Scotland head coach.
“The last performance gives us confidence,” beams Clark. “Mel has talked about really bringing back that ‘Scottishness’ to our game, and showing our identity. For us our biggest focus needs to be competing against nations we are ‘on par’ with. Can we go and dominate those games? I want to experience the highs that I have had at club level with this [Scotland] squad, the staff, the players. Everything. I want that. I want it soon. That’s the goal. I want to qualify for as many major tournaments as possible.
“The full focus is on focussing on [qualifying] for the World Cup in 2027. But nothing is going to change over night. We’ve had one camp with Mel. We’ve got a lot more work to put in order to play the way she wants, and to bring out the best in us. I’m really looking forward to working as a group, and getting back together again to achieve that.”
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