Scotland coach Pedro Martinez Rosa says his team is trying to focus on football amid the difficult circumstances surrounding their double-header with Israel.
Protesters will gather outside Hampden on Friday to demand Israel be expelled from the national team amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, while the women's Euro 2025 qualifiers will be held behind closed doors due to concerns over planned disruption.
The Scottish Football Association said earlier this month it had decided to play games without fans following “extensive security consultation”, while police said plans were in place to “maintain public safety and minimize disruption to the community”.
UEFA ordered the match to go ahead and Scotland will look to take six points from their return leg in Budapest next Tuesday against Hampden to boost their play-off hopes.
Martinez Losa said: “You want to keep maximum focus on what you can control. That's training and competing. That's why we're here.
“But of course, in any camp, not just this opportunity, but any time we have a situation, we’ve always had those initial conversations and we’ve discussed it with the leadership group if there’s any concerns or there’s a need to help the players.” .
“It was a process of covering what was relevant from day one and deciding from that moment to focus on the aspects we could control.
“There's a new part of it where we don't show that we're insensitive to any situation – we are – but the other side is we focus on what's really important to us when it comes to representing this badge and performing for Scotland. It's a dream for some people.”
The Spaniard is trying to nullify the impact of playing without fans.
“We’ve done some work with groups on research into the impact of games played behind closed doors,” he said.
“Obviously common sense is the motivational aspect of not having fans and how that affects the players.
“Both teams will be on the same terms and the players have also put some effort into figuring out how to compensate for that. We need to take the frustration out, but we can't control it.”
Defender Sophie Howard will do her best to focus on football amid protests organized by the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee.
“At the end of the day, we are human,” Howard said. “We know what's going on. We'd be lying if we said we don't know what's going on and we completely shut everything down, but that's what we're trained to do.
“As elite athletes, we're trained to block out outside noise and distractions and that's what we're trying to do. We focus on playing football and getting the job done on the field. Everything else is not up to us. “
Meanwhile, Martinez Rosa has explained why he spoke about Lyon's vacant role and reports linking players at the start of Spain's training camp.
“I was very clear about the group,” he said. “From your views and opinions in the media, there is clearly speculation that is beyond my control.
“We are all committed to the same goal. I am fully committed to my job here, with the players. I came here because I really wanted to be here. I took my time at another club to be here under different conditions. “That’s what I discussed with the players and staff,” he said.
