Steve Clarke fears that Scotland are now heading home from the World Cup after a deflating 3-0 defeat to Brazil left hopes of qualification for the last 32 hanging by a thread.
Two first half goals from Vinicius Junior stemmed from dreadful defensive errors, Manchester United striker Matheus Cunha completing a night of growing momentum for the five time World champions by rolling a third the net on the hour.
While Scotland retain a mathematical chance of securing qualification for the knock out stages as one of eight best third place group finishers progress would feel like a condemnation of FIFA’s new expanded format Clarke’s team were outclassed by the team currently fifth in the FIFA rankings.
The squad will return to their North Carolina training base to await confirmation of their fate before the weekend. While they forced some efforts on goal at 3-0 down, forcing Brazilian keeper Alisson in to three big saves, three points and a goal difference of minus three seems unlikely to be enough to progress. And, in light of the performance, neither should it be. Clarke and his players are already preparing themselves mentally for another early flight home from a major tournament.
“It was a very disappointing performance,” the manager acknowledged. “If you give away chances like we did tonight you are going to be punished. And that’s what happened.
“Our chances at the moment? I think we are probably going home.
‘The first thing the players have to do is go away and compute their performance and why we lost the game in the manner we did. That’s the first thing we have to do and then we can worry about the rest later.”
Against Morocco a poor piece of defensive judgement from Grant Hanley cost a goal after 70 seconds. The Hibernian defender was replaced against Brazil by Scott McKenna and he fared no better. A heavy touch in his own area allowed Bournemouth winger Rayan to deflect the ball into the path of Vinicius Junior for a simple finish after seven minutes.
Brazil’s second came before half-time after the captain won the ball in the area then played a poor pass to allow the South American side to retrieve it. A cross towards the back post was dealt with poorly by goalkeeper Angus Gunn and defender Nathan Patterson and Brazil were out of sight by half-time.
“I think it was self-inflicted,” Clarke acknowledged. “Listen, we are playing a top quality team and we know they are deadly in the attacking third of the pitch.
“And we gave them for sure the first two goals and probably the third goal as well. We gave them those goals but on the counter attack as well they missed a few chances and Angus Gunn had to make some good saves.
“It was then on us to try to create something in the second half. We got the ball in the box a number of times and created one or two chances but nothing really clean.
“When you look at Brazil’s attacking play in the final third of the pitch and when you look at ours there’s really no comparison.”
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While Clarke will come in for heavy criticism over a third successive poor tournament, with the SFA’s decision to grant him a new four year contract under scrutiny, the technical and athletic limitations of this Scotland team can not be ignored. Physically Brazil were streets ahead in every area.
“When you look at Brazil’s play in the attacking third, there’s really no comparison.
“We definitely didn’t play as well as we can play.
“But when you put yourself on the back foot, like we did against Morocco, you’re then relying in a bit of grit and determination to get back into the game against a really top opponent. And we didn’t manage to do that.”
Asked what his message to the team will be when they return to Charlotte to await the fate of the condemned man Clarke said he would tell them to be better in possession and take responsibility for their mistakes. While there is still a scenario where Scotland could progress, an early flight home would feel like a more fitting end to the tournament than a game against Mexico or Germany.
“It’s always difficult to speak about possible opponents when I’m not even sure we’re going to be here for the next round.
“So it’s difficult. Mexico are a strong team, especially at home, so that would be another tough game.
“I’m disappointed for them because we didn’t reach the levels that they can reach.
“Anyone who has watched this team over the last few years knows that we didn’t reach the levels that we can reach.”
Captain Robertson shares the view that, in all likelihood, Scotland’s return to the World Cup will be short-lived and end in an early flight home.
“Time will tell. It will take a day or two to see. As a collective we didn’t want to put ourselves in a position of having to watch every game and hope for favours. If you ask me now, I don’t think it’s enough. I don’t think we’ve done enough. Time will tell.
“Maybe I’ll be proved wrong and we’ll get another shot. I hope that’s the case. The next couple of days will be horrible and long. We have to deal with it.”
