Steven Naismith has insisted Scotland will not be intimidated when they line up against Brazil in their final Group C fixture.
Steve Clarke’s squad head for Miami today as they prepare for Wednesday’s meeting with the five-time world champions.
Scotland have never beaten the Samba stars in 10 previous attempts, including four encounters on football’s biggest stage.
But Naismith does not believe the history or the reputation of the opposition will weigh heavily on Clarke’s players. ‘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.’
Jack Hendry, Andy Robertson and Grant Hanley are aiming to help Scotland create history against Brazil
Steven Naismith and Steve Clarke are aware Scotland need to show more quality in the final third
After opening with a victory over Haiti before losing to Morocco, Scotland go into the decisive match on three points with a goal difference of zero.
With eight of the 12 best third-placed teams also set to progress to the round of 32, there is every chance that Scotland could qualify with a narrow defeat.
Adamant that it would be dangerous to consider that an acceptable outcome before a ball is kicked, Naismith insists Scotland must aim for at least the point which would remove all doubt.
‘Going into the game you think of everything,’ said Naismith. ‘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.
‘Our aim going in there is definitely to get something from the game. 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.’
Scotland didn’t manage a single shot on target against Morocco in Boston, a statistic that saw Clarke criticised in some quarters for being overly cautious.
Naismith believes the game-plan was sound but acknowledged that the side must carry more of an attacking threat 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.
‘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.
‘Bolivia was good. Denmark was good. So, it’s not as if we can’t get shots on target, but we definitely need to decide in the final third whether we’re going to have a shot or have a final action that makes the other team defend.
‘So far, we’ve maybe got into that situation and maybe lost possession, or the ball’s gone out for a goal kick. 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.’
Asked if he felt the side were brave enough in the second game to merit taking something, Naismith said: ‘Look, at the tournament so far. There are no easy games.
‘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.
Neymar (left) and Vinicius Jr could lead Brazil’s attack in Florida on Wednesday night
‘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. I think we’ve got the players to do it. And I think we have the manager to do it.
‘The magnitude of this game as is great as some of the players will ever have played in.’
Meanwhile, defender Jack Hendry insists he won’t be fazed by the prospect of going up against Neymar, as the superstar prepares to make his first appearance of the tournament.
‘No problem,’ he said of the prospect. ‘Obviously he was out in the league I was in (Saudi), so I’m comfortable going up against Neymar.
‘I’ll look forward to it. It should be a really good battle if he plays.
‘He got injured in Saudi, he did his ACL which was unfortunate. I’d have liked to play against him more. But I played against him twice in the Champions League (for Brugge) when he was at PSG — that was a good test.’
