Melissa Andreatta: ‘World class’ Caroline Weir can inspire Scotland’s youngsters

Scotland women boss Melissa Andreatta believes “world-class” Caroline Weir can be an inspiration to the nation’s youngsters.

The 30-year-old Real Madrid player, who had been capped 112 times, became the first Scottish woman to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or, which was ultimately won by Aitana Bonmati of Barcelona for the third consecutive time.

However, Andreatta believes the former Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City midfielder’s nomination cemented her status as a role model for young Scottish footballers.

“I think it’s super important (to show) that anything’s possible if you work hard, you believe in yourself, you make difficult choices, as Caroline did earlier in her career, moving away from home and so forth,” said Andreatta, who called up Sporting Club Jacksonville defender Georgia Brown for the first time for upcoming friendlies against Morocco and Switzerland.

“I think you put yourself in the best position to experience and to earn those accolades.

“That’s what she’s done and we have other Scottish players that are doing that too, that just haven’t been acknowledged yet.

“And I think it’s fantastic for our young Scottish players.

“She’s wonderful. World-class player, but a genuine top human being.

“Loving working with her and all the other players around her, but she’s so down to earth. I love the conversations we have together, they’re in depth, they’re detailed. I don’t know what else to say about her.

“She’s an excellent human being.

“We’ve got players coming through, doing very well in our domestic league, but we’ve also got players, across Europe and internationally.

“It’s about what they do in their daily training environment that’s going to give them the best opportunity to reach those heights and I think the future’s looking bright.”

Chelsea Cornet, Brogan Hay, Emma Watson and retired captain Rachel Corsie drop out, replaced by Mia McAulay, Kirsty Hanson, Kirsty Smith and Brown.

Scotland take on the Africa Cup of Nations runners-up on Friday, October 24 at Stadium El Arbi Zaouli and then the Euro 2025 hosts the following Tuesday at Dunfermline’s East End Park.

Andreatta will use the October and November friendly windows as preparation for next year’s World Cup qualification campaign, which begins in February.

On Brown’s call-up, the former Australia assistant said: “First of all, she’s a young player who we feel has been performing and with some recent retirements and the opportunity to look at things in these next four games, we thought this is the right time to do that, and bring her in to expose her to our environment and to the level and see how she handles it.”