McGinn admits 'miracle' needed for Scotland to qualify

John McGinn said Scotland's players fear they are heading home after a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their final World Cup group game in Miami.

Only the eight best third-placed teams advance to the last 32 and at the final whistle, Scotland sat sixth in that table with 10 groups still to be completed, having followed up the 1-0 win over Haiti in their opening game with two defeats.

An early error by Scott McKenna put Scotland on the back foot from the seventh minute against the five-time world champions, and asked if he feared the tournament was now over, McGinn said, "it’s the way I feel now.

"It’s not the way you want to go out either. We’ll probably hurt tonight, hurt tomorrow and then just keep our fingers crossed.

"If we go into the last 32, if we get a miracle, we’ll need to be better, we know that.

"If you don’t take care of the ball in the big moments and you make mistakes, you get punished – that’s club or international football."

He continued to say, "Brazil punished us tonight. I don’t think overall they opened us up too many times, it was sort of self-inflicted mistakes and I think the scoreline was a fair one.

"It leaves us in the worst possible position from this morning. We gave ourselves a good platform to go and qualify and tonight we’ve made that very difficult. There’s no hiding from that.

"We need a lot to go our way, we will hope, but what we do need to be if we manage to get through is be a lot better."

Manager Steve Clarke also admitted that Scotland face wider issues after their sobering 3-0 defeat to Brazil.

Asked if there are broader challenges in terms of technical ability and athleticism to be addressed, he said: "The short answer to that is yes.

"I think when you see the physicality, the power and the technique of both Morocco and Brazil, you can see that we have to try to do something of our own.

"We have to try and be better at producing young players that can grace the world stage."

Clarke’s message to his players, if they are to progress, was succinct, "do better, that’s it. Be better in possession. Take responsibility.

"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."

Despite the defeat, Clarke believes his side can hold their own if they manage to get through.

He said, "you always have to be convinced that you can compete in the knockout stages.

"We gave Morocco a really good game and they are world number six.

"It is a very Scottish thing to win the first game, that everyone said was a winnable game.

"We managed to do that and our next two opponents were world number six and world number five.

"We obviously have to be better against that type of opponent and the best way to do that is not to give them any goals."

Clarke bristled when asked if he would ask fans to stay and spend more money in the US until they discover if they have qualified or go home and then come back if they do.

"Do you want me to make that decision for the people that are here?" Clarke asked.

"I’m not sure that’s in my remit as a head coach.

"The fans are fantastic, they’ve been absolutely brilliant.

"And don’t forget that this group of players brought these fans to America, this group of players qualified. That why the Scottish journalists are here.

"Otherwise, we’d always be sitting on the sofa, watching the World Cup without Scotland.

"So, the fans appreciate what this group of players have done for them.

"They’ve had a great time, they are great ambassadors for the country, but they wouldn’t be here without that group of players, and I think, for me, that’s a very important point."

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