Scotland backed – Steven Naismith says Scotland won’t be “spooked” by Brazil’s status ahead of Wednesday’s Group C decider in Miami, with the team currently on three points and facing pressure to improve in the final third after criticism following a goalless Morocco match.
Steven Naismith insists Scotland have nothing to fear when they walk into Miami for Wednesday’s final Group C match against five-time world champions Brazil.
Steve Clarke’s side travel to Florida today with the edge of a tournament truth hanging over them: Dark Blue have faced the Samba stars 10 times and have never beaten them. with four of those meetings coming at the greatest show on earth. Neymar is set to be introduced for Brazil for the first time this summer. and the spotlight will fall on the duel Scotland’s players will have to handle under World Cup pressure.
Naismith, Scotland’s assistant manager, doesn’t expect the sight of Brazil’s yellow shirts to weigh on his team. “I don’t think it will, to be honest,” he said. “These days. so many of the players are coming up against these type of players. or are team-mates with them. that they’re used to them. “I don’t think Brazil will spook our players at all.”.
Behind the calm message is a simple requirement: Scotland must make improvements in the final third if they want to protect their chances. After beating Haiti and losing to Morocco. Clarke’s side are sitting on three points and a zero goal difference ahead of their last Group C outing. With eight of the 12 best third-placed teams also set to progress to the round of 32. there’s a route through even if things don’t go perfectly. But Naismith wants that route closed off with their own performance.
He pushed back hard on the idea of treating a narrow defeat as acceptable before a ball is kicked. “Going into the game you think of everything,” Naismith said. “There are plenty games to come before ours. but it’s far too high a risk to go into a game thinking about things that are out of your hands. That’s basically a back-up plan if things don’t go well.”.
Instead. his message is direct: Scotland’s aim is to come away with something. because they’ve already shown they can compete at the level of quality they’ll face in Brazil. “Our aim going in there is definitely to get something from the game,” he said. “We’ve had some pretty big results against the level of quality we’ll come up against in Brazil. In and out of possession, we need to be good.”.
The criticism around Scotland’s bluntness still lingers after their 2-1 defeat to Morocco produced a worrying detail. Scotland didn’t manage a single shot on target against Morocco in Boston, and Clarke took heat in some quarters for being overly cautious.
Naismith believes the wider game-plan against Morocco was right, but he acknowledged the attacking threat needs to be sharper in Florida. “We probably need to play more forward passes,” he said. “And in any game at the World Cup, you’re going to need to be better in possession.”
He pointed to the nature of the challenge Brazil present—world-class players with similar traits to Morocco—and insisted Scotland will need defensive stability like they showed before. “Morocco are a great team who are going to cause anyone problems. but in the main our defensive display was good and it’ll need to be similar on Wednesday because we’re up against another team with world-class players. many of whom have similar traits to the Moroccans.”.
Then he connected the dots to what actually decides matches in group football: not just getting into the right areas. but what happens once you reach them. “So far. we’ve maybe got into that situation and maybe lost possession. or the ball’s gone out for a goal kick. ” Naismith said. “We’re getting into the final third, it’s just that final decision. Everyone saw we got into the final third a lot against Morocco, but did we test the goalie enough?. Probably not.”.
There’s also the emotional weight of how unforgiving tournaments can be. Naismith addressed the question of whether Scotland have been brave enough in the second game—then answered with the reality that. so far. there have been no easy matches in the competition. “Look, at the tournament so far. There are no easy games,” he said. “We managed to get a good result against Haiti then the early goal against Morocco really set us back. but we’re going into the last game knowing what we need to do.”.
Naismith added that Scotland’s group run still leaves the door open for them to get through as well as possible. “I’ll repeat what I said last week — this would be the first squad to get through the group. I think they’d deserve to do it,” he said. “I think we’ve got the players to do it. And I think we have the manager to do it.”.
For Scotland’s defenders, the challenge is personal as well. Jack Hendry is ready for the confrontation with Neymar, who is preparing to make his first appearance of the tournament. “No problem,” Hendry said of facing Neymar. “Obviously he was out in the league I was in (Saudi), so I’m comfortable going up against Neymar.”.
Hendry said the reality of a battle is what excites him. “I’ll look forward to it. It should be a really good battle if he plays.”
He also spoke about the context of Neymar’s time away. recalling that the Brazilian suffered an ACL injury in Saudi. “He got injured in Saudi, he did his ACL which was unfortunate. I’d have liked to play against him more,” Hendry said. “But I played against him twice in the Champions League (for Brugge) when he was at PSG — that was a good test.”.
As Scotland set their sights on Wednesday night in Florida. the message from their staff is consistent: don’t let the occasion swallow the plan. and don’t arrive expecting the scoreboard to be kind. The task is to improve in the final third. create chances that force Brazil to defend. and secure the kind of result that ends any doubt before the tournament’s next set of matches begins.
Scotland Brazil World Cup Steven Naismith Steve Clarke Neymar Jack Hendry Group C Miami Haiti Morocco