Steve Clarke to park love of Brazil in bid to break new ground with Scotland

Steve Clarke will disregard his decades-long love of Brazil as he looks to lead Scotland to historic heights when the two sides clash on Wednesday.

The Scotland boss has been an admirer of the five-times World Cup winners since the side which included Pele won the trophy in Mexico in 1970 and he comes up against them for the first time in Miami.

The three points gained against Haiti in their first Group C fixture – which leaves them one point behind Morocco and Brazil – may well be enough to take Scotland into the knockout stages of the competition for the first time, depending on results elsewhere.

However, one point against Carlo Ancelotti’s side will all but guarantee progress and another incentive for Clarke is that Scotland have never beaten Brazil in 10 attempts, with eight defeats and two draws.

“For me, as a coach, to be involved in a World Cup match against Brazil, one of the most iconic teams in the world…first memories of the World Cup for me were probably the 1970 Brazil team,” said Clarke, who confirmed right-back Aaron Hickey was the only player unavailable.

“They were absolutely fantastic.

“They were great to see for a young boy growing up. And you grow up with that love of Brazil. But tomorrow night, we have to not love Brazil and love Scotland more.

“I think the characteristics of Brazil as a national team is they have to attack. These are the characteristics that people expect from a Brazil team.

“In qualifying, they did enough to qualify. Maybe they wanted to be better and finish higher in the section. To finish fifth, maybe a disappointment.

“But I think they’ve shown in the matches so far in this tournament that they can be a big threat and I’m sure they expect to be minimum last four in the competition.”

There is an expectation that Neymar could return for Brazil for the first time in over two-and-a-half years.

The 34-year-old forward missed the first two Group C games with a calf injury, but head coach Ancelotti confirmed the forward’s fitness ahead of the game against Scotland.

“Obviously his qualities are without question,” said Clarke. “He’s one of the superstars of the modern era. He always has injury issues coming into the tournament.

“I’m sure Carlo Ancelotti will use him wisely, whether that’s from the bench or from the start.

“And we can expect a very dangerous opponent, but I could go on about there’s always so many dangerous opponents and Neymar is just another dangerous opponent.

“I think coming from the bench, he can certainly give the team a lift because the crowd will give him a lift when he comes, because he’s such an iconic figure.”

Speaking at the Miami Stadium after a thunderstorm had soaked the ground and its environs, Clarke revealed he has “a strategy in mind” with how to deal with possible weather disruptions on Wednesday night.

He said: “Obviously, you don’t know how long the delay is going to be. They’re always doing it off the last lightning strike.

“You’ve got to wait 30 minutes off the last lightning strike, so that can just roll on and roll on.

“If there is to be a delay, then hopefully it will be a short one. Like I said before, we’ve got a coping strategy and we have an idea of what we’ll do if it happens to us.”