Scotland star Caroline Weir reflects on 'tough' road to recovery from knee injury

Caroline Weir endured “tough times” during her recovery from major knee surgery but is back in the Scotland squad with a fresh perspective.

The Real Madrid star is determined to help take Scotland to another major championship as they face Hungary in the first leg of their first round of Euro 2025 play-off later this week.

Weir ruptured her cruciate ligament while on international duty over a year ago but is back in the Scotland camp after netting in the Champions League against Celtic last week.

The 29-year-old rejoins Pedro Martinez Losa’s group ahead of the game in Budapest on Friday, with a return leg set for Easter Road next Tuesday.

The Scots haven’t been to a major women’s tournament since the 2019 World Cup.

Weir says her journey back to full fitness was demanding, but the time on the sidelines allowed her to focus on personal events such as getting married.

She said: “It was by far the toughest thing I’ve had to go through in my career. There were so many ups and downs and it definitely was not a simple journey on my recovery.

“I was proud of the way I dealt with it most of the time. I feel grateful and happy to be back.

“It was physically very demanding. There was some many elements to this injury, there was a lot to it.”

Weir scored as Madrid beat the Hoops 4-0 last week and revealed she was desperate to draw Elena Sadiku’s side.

She added: “I followed Celtic through the qualifying campaign and was so happy to see them do well.

“I really wanted them in the draw, I thought it would be really cool to play a Scottish team and to score and win the game was really important.

“It took me back to my childhood a little bit, growing up a Dunfermline fan we’ve been on the end of some big defeats by Celtic.

“It did feel good to beat them and to score.”