New head coach Melissa Andreatta says “anything is possible” with Scotland and admits she is “confident” of guiding the national team back to a women’s major tournament.
The former Australia assistant was announced as the permanent successor to Pedro Martinez Losa last month.
The 46-year-old will take charge of the side for the first time in their penultimate Nations League A game against Austria on 30 May at Hampden, before rounding off the campaign in the Netherlands four days later.
The Scottish FA’s head of elite women’s football, Michael McArdle, oversaw the first four group games on an interim basis, all of which were defeats.
Her predecessor, Martinez Losa, was dismissed after the Scots failed to reach Euro 2025 – the third major tournament in a row they have missed.
Andreatta, who has moved around the world to “immerse herself in Scottish culture” says she “jumped at the opportunity” to become the head coach of a national team for the first time.
“I’m confident in the process and the progress that we can make towards qualifying for a major tournament with the players and the experience that we have,” she said at Hampden.
“I think anything is possible with this group with time.”
Andreatta is under no illusion her remit is to get Scotland back to the top table of international football.
She helped her native Australia to a fourth-place finish at their home World Cup in 2023 and fourth in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“It’s a multiple range of factors that leads to high performance at the highest level under the highest amount of pressure,” Andreatta explained.
“To perform at that level, we need to get to know the players and understand what they need to do in training, between camps with clubs.
“Then, we get that on the same page at the same time and I think you have a higher chance of being successful.”
For the last two-and-a-half-years, Andreatta also led the Australia under-23s, with one of her priorities being to nurture young talent.
“It’s all been about major tournament qualification and talent pathways, exposing our young players to international football.
“Being visible, being at the games in the local league. I was at the Hearts v Hibs game at the weekend so it was fantastic to get a taste of that.
“Everything’s about growing the game and matching that with performance at major tournaments.”
Andreatta leaves behind an Australia team currently led by Glasgow-born Tom Sermanni on an interim basis.
She admitted she spoke with him, and Scottish A-League coach Ernie Merrick, to get a flavour for Scotland before moving her family over.
“It’s a massive move, it took us 30 hours to get here,” she explained.
“I think my journey has led me towards being a head coach and this opportunity came up, and why not jump at it?
“Who wouldn’t want to coach this team? The Scottish have a great history and I’m super honoured to be a part of it and to lead this great team.
“It’s a big decision when you’re asking your family to relocate and that’s what we’re doing. We want to immerse ourselves in the Scottish culture and really get to know everything about it.
“I think to really understand where football’s at and take it to where we want it to go, it’s about being here on the ground.”
