The post-match praise from Scotland’s last run out in Edinburgh could not have been any greater.
From Martinez Losa admitting they showed the “best version of themselves”, to left-back Nicola Docherty adding “excellent” Scotland had their “belief and winning mentality back”, the confidence could not have been any higher.
That carried into this camp.
Throughout this week, the vibe has been calm but confident. Respectful but ready.
However, once the disco lights dimmed and the fireworks display dissolved, Scotland were slow – and second best.
If it had not been for a sensational save from goalkeeper Eartha Cumings in the first-half, the Scots could have been facing an uphill hike in Helsinki.
And, although a stalemate is no disaster, it left former Scotland defender Emma Black “deflated”.
“We’re at home – we should have took the game to Finland,” she told Sportsound. “We went into this game as favourites and we just looked a shadow of ourselves compared to the Hungary game.
“We looked very nervous. We dropped deep and we allowed them to have possession.”
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Here's a list of Memphis area high school winter sports top performers for Week 9 of the 2024-25 season. Submit your team's statistics to: sports@commercialappe