Steve Clarke has urged Scotland to create another landmark night by beating Brazil for the first time in their history.
The Scots have failed to overcome the Samba Stars in 10 previous meetings dating back to 1966, with four of those encounters taking place at World Cups.
Their second World Cup clash came in Seville in 1982, when Dave Narey’s spectacular opener was followed by a four-goal response from a Brazil team still widely regarded as the finest side never to lift the trophy.
‘We don’t want an iconic moment and then suffer a defeat like that,’ Clarke said, reflecting on that 4-1 loss in Spain.
‘You want the iconic moment like the iconic moments we had at Hampden against Denmark. They’re the iconic moments.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke addresses the media before the Brazil match
‘They’re the ones that you want, that you remember, and you can say “we won and we got what we wanted out the game.” But I wouldn’t mind taking the lead, I’ve got to be honest.’
With eight of the 12 teams finishing third also advancing to the round of 32, Scotland may still have a route through even if they are edged out by a narrow margin.
While that scenario would see Clarke become the first Scotland manager in history to qualify for the knockout stage of a major tournament, he would far rather get there on the back of a positive result.
‘I’d much rather go through with the win or the draw than go through the other way, because then you just feel as though it was earned,’ he added.
‘Obviously, you can only follow the rules of the competition and if the rules of competition say three points and a negative goal difference gets you through then, obviously, we take that.
‘I spoke about it after we went into the first Euros, where we went through via the Nations League.
‘The next time we went through it was because we were bloody good in the group and we finished second behind a top Spanish side.
Clarke wants another moment like David Narey’s wonder goal against Brazil in 1982
‘That just felt a little bit more like “we did that”. It wasn’t the circumstances around it.
‘So, I’d much rather do that. But don’t get me wrong, if it happens the other way I’ll take it.’
Asked if that was the same mindset as his players, Clarke said: ‘We wanted to get three points against Morocco.
‘Now we have another chance to do it against Brazil and, like I said before, if you’re living the dream, what a dream.’
Fifth in the final standings of their qualifying group, Carlo Ancelotti’s side are not as fancied to win a sixth World Cup as they have been previously.
‘They are Brazil. They’ve got good players all over the pitch,’ Clarke warned.
‘We know we have to be the best version of ourselves. We have to defend the one v one well. They are tricky, they’ve got players who can beat you.
‘They play a clever way sometimes, they drop the striker out, they make it difficult for you to defend.
‘By the time we get to the game, the players will know everything that they’re going to have to worry about with Brazil. And then we just have to make sure that we turn up.’
Ancelotti is the only manager to have won the Champions League five times and is also the only boss to have won the title in all of Europe’s top five leagues.
Clarke is adamant, though, that the prospect of going head-to-head with one of the game’s all-time greats doesn’t add another level of excitement for him.
Clarke is unfussed about pitting his wits against Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti
‘No. That’s the honest answer,’ he insisted. ‘What gets me excited is the chance to put our players on the pitch, on this stage, and say “c’mon guys, let’s do it for the country.”
‘That gets me going more than who I’m playing against or who I’m pitting my wits against with questions of “who’s the tactical genius” and everything else that goes with it.
‘That’s not important to me. You know me better than that by now. That’s not me.
‘I want our players to be the best version of themselves that they can be on the night, on the world stage, against a top ten team.
‘We’re all at a World Cup after however many years away. You’re here to represent your country. You go to Miami to play against Brazil as a Scottish player.
‘It doesn’t come much bigger than that. So, let’s just go and express ourselves and see what we can do.’
Clarke confirmed that Aaron Hickey misses out through an unspecified injury although he should be fit for the last 32 – should Scotland get there.
Scotland defender Aaron Hickey will miss the Brazil game through injury
Meanwhile, the Scotland boss says he’s not concerned about the possible impact of a weather delay.
The France v Iraq match in Philadelphia was held up for 2 hours 11 minutes due to severe thunderstorms and lightning in the area.
There appears to be a possibility that the clash with Brazil could be similarly affected, but Clarke said: ‘We have a strategy in mind on how to deal with it. Obviously, you don’t know how long the delay is going to be.
‘You have to wait 30 minutes after the last lightning strike and that can just roll on and on.
‘If there is to be a delay then hopefully it can be a short one and like I said before we have got a coping strategy and we have an idea what we would do if that happened to us.’
