Scotland's defender Andrew Robertson (R) congratulates Scotland's midfielder John McGinn (L) on the pitch after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification football match between Scotland and Austria at Hampden Park in Glasgow on March 25, 2021. - The game finished 2-2. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Scotland midfielder John McGinn has called on his team to take the game directly to Brazil in their crucial World Cup Group C finale in Miami.
Steve Clarke’s side fell to a 1-0 defeat against Morocco on Friday night, leaving their tournament progress hanging in the balance.
Scotland are chasing history, with the knock-out stage of a major tournament having never been reached by the national team in their long and frequently heartbreaking football story.
The new expanded World Cup format means the three points gained in their opening win could still be enough, but McGinn insists they cannot rely on other results going their way.
McGinn, who scored the winning goal against Haiti in Boston, says Scotland must bring the same pressing intensity that rattled Morocco in the second half at full throttle from the start.
He said: “We have to attack Brazil. The second half showed that when we get after teams, no-one likes being under that pressure. Even players at the top level make mistakes.”
McGinn added: “Scotland v Brazil in Miami to make history is something you dream of. We’ve prepared right for it but we have to take it a step further now.”
A narrow defeat to Brazil could still see Scotland advance to the last 32 as one of the best third-placed teams, but a heavy loss risks elimination on goal difference if other results turn against them.
McGinn was clear that his side would not approach the match with a damage-limitation mindset, insisting they have the quality to advance through the proper channels.
He said: “We’re not going into games trying to lose by one goal and sneak our way through. We feel we’ve got enough quality to go through the proper way and against Morocco we showed we can compete with teams in the top 10.”
The Aston Villa captain was at the centre of a significant controversy when he was denied what he firmly believes was a clear second-half penalty against Morocco.
McGinn was challenged in the box by Neil El Aynaoui, with Uzbekistani referee Ilgiz Tantashev waving away his appeals before VAR upheld the on-field decision, to the frustration of the Scotland camp.
He said: “It’s a penalty, 100 percent. When a defender is running at full speed to try and win the ball, misses it and takes you out, it’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch. Nine times out of 10 you get a penalty for that.”
McGinn continued: “At this level, when you’re competing against a team in the top 10 in the world, you need the breaks to go in your favour and they didn’t.”
Scotland’s night was made harder almost immediately when they conceded to Ismael Saibari’s stunning early goal after just 71 seconds, yet McGinn was proud of the character his team showed in response.
He said: “It would have been easy for us to collapse against Morocco after conceding the early goal. But we’re a resolute group. What we sometimes lack in quality against the top teams, we have in fight and character.”
Brazil arrive in Miami having hammered Haiti 3-0 in their previous match, with Carlo Ancelotti’s squad brimming with individual brilliance that McGinn acknowledges will pose a completely different kind of threat.
He said: “Brazil will be a different game. They play with less structure but they’ve got quality that can hurt you. We’ll need to be at our best. We know what we have to do to reach the next round and we’ll try to do that.”
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