“You blew it...” BBC News presenter John Beattie’s words to his daughter Jenny after her Scotland women’s football team were cruelly dumped out of their first World Cup might seem harsh.

But for the former Scotland rugby internationalist, taking a cold, hard look at exactly what went wrong during Wednesday night’s crunch match with Argentina is crucial.

Jenny, 28, was among the scorers as Scotland built up a commanding 3-0 lead over Group D rivals Argentina with only 16 minutes to play in Paris – only for their opponents to fight back to draw 3-3.

The players trudged off the pitch in tears after a series of refereeing decisions went against them, as well as the controversial use of VAR technology which led to Argentina being allowed to retake and score a last-minute penalty after it was saved by Scots goalkeeper Lee Alexander.

But Beattie, 61, who presents BBC Scotland’s The Nine news show, revealed during a phone-in on Radio Scotland’s Mornings With Jackie Brambles how he told his daughter that the team “blew it”.

Beattie, who won 25 caps for Scotland and twice toured with the British Lions, said: “That’s what sport does to you – sport takes you to the edge of the cliff and you either win it or you lose it.

“You’ve got to analyse it properly, so you’ve got to take 10 steps back. “I spoke to Jenny last night and... if you have have a three-goal lead and then you lose a three-goal lead, you’ve kind of blown the game -– you’ve blown the game.

“You’ve got to ask, ‘why did they blow the game?’.

“They didn’t manage the game, they didn’t manage the closing stages of the game.”

Beattie said his daughter’s team had given women’s football “some credibility in Scotland”, and he was now known to many people as “Jenny’s dad”.

He said it was “unique” to see the country as proud watching its women compete as they would have been watching the men’s side, but said the women should be held to equal scrutiny.

He said: “As a father, I’ve got to be honest. “What do I think? They blew a game they should have won.

“The twiddly bit at the end, which is all referees and (VAR and extra time).. that’s twiddle.

“I come from rugby which is that doesn’t matter.

“You should never get yourself into a position where you’re giving away a penalty in the last minute, and if you’re winning 3-0 and then momentum changes – we’ve all been in sport and the whole thing in sport is momentum.”

He added: “The mistake is letting in the first goal, then the second goal.

“So I’m incredibly proud of them, I think that getting there was against all the odds – they came back from 2-0 down against Poland to win 3-2 to get there.

“Always onward. I phoned Jenny – ‘what counts in life is family, friends and health, the sun rises again tomorrow, you blew it, you move on’.”

Beattie also suggested Scotland’s women may never better their achievement of qualifying for a World Cup because of the lack of funding for grassroots sport in Scotland.

He said: “I never look ahead and go ‘it’s going to be better tomorrow’. “I always look at today and think ‘that might be the highest point the Scottish women’s team ever gets to.

“That might be the best they’ve ever been because there will be millions of African countries coming up, there will be other European countries coming up.

“The only way to guarantee a bit more success at football and rugby and all the other sports is to invest more in grassroots and school sport, which we don’t do really.”

But others suggested Beattie was being too hard on his daughter and her teammates.

The next caller, Donnie from Troon, in Ayrshire, told Ms Brambles: “I think John spoke very harshly there if I’m honest, but he’s been a top sportsman so I understand where he’s coming from.

“I think in all three games that the girls played – and I’m immensely proud of them – they were on the end of some really harsh decisions.”

The following caller, Peter, from Peterhead, added: “I’m just gutted. “I think I’m more disappointed in John Beattie.

“I thought he was being a bit harsh as well.

“I would like to say to John, I think he should be so proud of his daughter and the rest of the girls.

“It’s their first World Cup, they’ve been in a European Championship, they’ve progressed so much, I’m a bit disappointed in John saying that this might be their high point.

“I would like to see them kick on.

“The girls should be so proud, they performed absolutely brilliant and the main thing, they gave 100 per cent.

“I’ve really enjoyed watching them play.”

Beattie, who is a qualified civil engineer and chartered accountant, now hosts a daily news programme on BBC Radio Scotland, as well as a weekly role on the BBC Scotland TV channel’s flagship news programme The Nine.

His first try for Scotland was against France at the Parc des Princes in1987 – more than 32 years before his daughter’s goal against Argentina at the same venue.