Having known that they had already qualified, Scotland flew to Iceland looking to regain the pride that they had lost in June, when they had lost 4-0 to the same opponents.
Anna Signeul was full of confidence, even saying that they “players were full of lust for revenge.” And she was very open about their disappointment in the 4-0 defeat, and how the players and herself had reflected on the result.
She talked about making Scotland harder to beat, to go back to not conceding and it was perhaps this that saw Scotland change shape to 4-4-2. Lisa Evans played up front, with Jane Ross dropping deeper when Scotland was without the ball.
And after the match, Signeul was clearly delighted with the result and Scotland's performance.
Understandably, the Scotland boss was over the moon with the result: "It was fantastic. I'm so proud of the players, because we said we might sneak in a win but the most important thing was that we did ourselves proud with showing that actually we can compete physically and that we can deny them a goal. Now we conceded a goal but we managed to score two so we could win the game.
"It was a solid performance I think defensively, and then I think also a variation in attack that we showed that. I though Caroline Weir and Jane Ross were very good, but if we take every individual like Emma Mitchell – it's probably the best game I see her play for us."
There seemed to be a very good understanding between the players, with players dropping into the positions to fill gaps and an understand of the tactics. "We had four really good sessions and we have trained defensive organisation a lot, so if that shows, that's very good," the head coach said.
When Iceland equalised, Scotland didn't seem to panic. They seemed to continue with the same style and composure. Signeul agreed,"That's what I said to them at half-time. I was so proud, because there was such positive body language. It was like 'okay, that's done but now we've got to focus'. And even when we scored, we didn't let go either of the focus – we were just going and going. So, very proud of them both tactically and mentally."
Evans has her say
We also managed to speak to Bayern Munich forward, Lisa Evans, who was similarly excited with the result: "We're obviously very happy. We came here with a much different mindset from the first game and we really wanted to go out there and show that although we had already qualified, knowing that before the game that we wanted to play for pride today. And I think we wanted to show how good we can compete against the top teams like Iceland."
She continued, "The first half I think was really strong and a good tactical performance." Added to that, the attacker was pleased that her side didn't panic after conceding the equaliser: "I think that was the biggest thing in the first half. They got the goal and I think probably through our mistake that they actually got the goal and apart from that, they didn't really have many chances. We really did limit their chances in the game. That was one of our tactics to do that and I think it worked very well."
With the change of role, Evans admitted it was a change but was more than pleased to be doing whatever is necessary: "I think it's a lot different obviously, but I'm happy to do any role as long as I'm playing and getting the opportunity – I don't mind whatever the boss chooses."
In regards to what the future holds and the upcoming tournament, Evans beamed: "Yeah, we're obviously really excited, we're really looking forward to it. It's obviously something new for us, we've not really had preparations for the Euros before. So we're all really looking forward to it."
Bayern Munich face Hibernian in the Champions League, a return home that Evans is very much excited about: "Looking forward to that, especially as I used to play for Glasgow City so Hibs has always been my rival team. But obviously I've got friends there, I've got family who can come and watch – so I'm really looking forward to it."