Steve Clarke insists Scotland will have no intention of trying to sneak into the last 32 by limiting the damage against Brazil.
Friday’s narrow loss to Morocco leaves the national team on three points and a zero goal difference ahead of their final Group C match against the five-times world champions.
With eight of the 12 third-placed sides qualifying for the knockout round, a narrow defeat in Miami on Wednesday should still be good enough for the World Cup adventure to continue.
Adamant that playing for that scenario just won’t come into his players’ minds, though, the Scotland boss says no thought will be given to battening down the hatches.
Asked if there were implications from the way the other sections are poised, Clarke said: ‘Absolutely nothing because we want to win the game and if we can’t win the game then we don’t want to lose it.
Head coach Steve Clarke consults assistant Steven Naismith during the Morocco match
‘That’s the focus we will have in the next five days before we get ourselves down to Miami with the heat and the humidity. We will take on another top side from the world’s top ten.’
Scotland were poor in the first half against the North Africans yet improved in the second period.
Despite failing to create many clear-cut chances in Boston, Clarke’s players were aggrieved that three major decisions from Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev went against them.
Morocco defender Issa Diop was only shown a yellow card by the official in the first half for a last-man challenge on Che Adams.
John McGinn looked to be impeded in the box by Neil El Aynaoui early in the second period with Scott McTominay also hitting the turf late on after an ill-advised challenge by the same opponent.
Clarke insists Scotland could have had a penalty when El Aynaoui felled John McGinn
Irked by the fact that none of the marginal calls went the way of his side, Clarke said: ‘Everyone in the flash area, where I did some interviews, were talking about the Scott McTominay one. But that’s the only one I didn’t watch back.
‘I thought the John McGinn one was a 50/50. Some will give it. And I think if the referee gives it, VAR doesn’t overturn it. I was a little bit 50/50 on the Che Adams last man incident too.
‘He had a chance to go through one on one with the goalkeeper and gets brought down. Again, the referee chooses yellow and VAR backs the referee. Listen, there is nothing we can do about it.’
Scotland were left to count the cost of a dire start to the match which saw Ismail Saibari score the fastest goal of the competition after just 70 seconds.
Asked what was going through his mind when the Bayern Munich man struck, Clarke replied: ‘I wish we could start again. That would have been the first thing. We lost a poor goal, we try to step up. You’ve got track the runners early in the game.
Scott McTominay appealed for a penalty afer a Moroccan challenge in the box
‘They were full of energy and invention. Yeah, we didn’t defend it well. That’s why we went one-nil down.’
Scotland struggled initially to get to grips with the AFCON champions but did offer more the longer the game went on.
‘I felt we picked ourselves after that,’ said Clarke. ‘It maybe took us 10 minutes to get into the game because when you get a set-back like that it can be really difficult to respond.
‘Weaker teams would have crumbled against that type of quality opposition. But we dug in and got ourselves back in the game. We started to move the ball about a little bit better. And I thought the second period of the first-half, after the first hydration break, we were good in the game. We had momentum going into half-time and carried that into the second-half.
‘We had a right go and I’m proud of the players, but we’re all devastated and disappointed that we didn’t get the result that we wanted so that we can carry on in this tournament as long as we can.’
The manager was asked why his side didn’t go all out for an equaliser immediately after falling behind.
‘If we chase a goal against a team like Morocco their counterattack is so fast and so quick,’ he explained.
‘If you make the game too big … you can see towards the end of the game when we were pushing for an equaliser the game becomes stretched and Morocco have very good and very quick players.
‘Early in the game it was important, having conceded the first one after 70-odd seconds, to not concede a second.’
Scotland players applaud the Tartan Army after the 1-0 loss to Morocco
Clarke feels it’s imperative that his squad reflects on what contributed to the defeat before turning their minds to the task of facing Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
‘We now have to let the players suffer a little bit over the next 48 hours,’ he continued.
‘We don’t like losing against anybody. So we’ll rest, recover and get ready to go again. The games don’t get much easier, though, eh?’
Ben Gannon-Doak had some moments of promise after coming on as a second half substitute. Clarke didn’t rule out the possibility of starting the winger against the Brazilians in a bid to fight fire with fire.
‘He is a terrific player,’ he said. ‘It took him a little bit of time to get into the game, but once he gets in there you know he is going to be that little bit unpredictability off the bench.
‘He gives us a threat which is different. I thought Kieran Tierney was terrific, he just cramped up a little bit. Ben gives us something a little bit different, we know that.
‘Next week (Brazil) is a different game and probably a different approach, so let’s see who I pick.’
