MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Andy Robertson and his Scotland teammates have watched their fans march through the streets of Miami and Boston, celebrating baseball games with beers and bagpipes as if they were attending a soccer match.
Scotland wants to give the Tartan Army much more to celebrate on Wednesday, when it faces Brazil in a World Cup match at the home stadium of the NFL's Miami Dolphins.
The team knows it won't be an easy task.
“Everywhere they
go, people fall in love with them,” Robertson said. “You've seen how much the whole of the city of Boston fell in love with the Tartan Army. I think they're gutted to know they've left. Now obviously they've come down to Miami to try and make the same impact. And I think they've had that same impact, obviously, at the baseball (game) again last night walking through the streets and everything.
"Come tomorrow night. If we manage to beat Brazil ... I'm sure maybe a couple of beers will be drunk by the Tartan Army. That's for sure.”
Scotland is hoping to qualify for the knockout stage at the World Cup for the first time following eight previous group-stage exits. The Scots got off to a good start to their first World Cup in 28 years, beating Haiti 1-0 in their opener for their first win on soccer's biggest stage since 1990.
Following a 1-0 loss to Morocco, Scotland is third in Group C with three points, needing a draw or potentially a narrow loss against Brazil to make it out of the group stage.
“When it comes to the game, we are in control of our own destiny at the minute,” Robertson said. “We've still got a game to play. We've already got three points. What we know is if we get a result tomorrow, we'll be 100% through. So we have to focus on that.”
Brazil forward Neymar could potentially return from a right calf injury for the match, but Robertson said getting through the juggernaut squad will be tough regardless of who suits up.
“It's not really if we want to face Neymar. If we want to face Vinícius Júnior. If we want to face Endrick. If we want to face (Gabriel) Martinelli,” Robertson said. “I could go on and name every player on the Brazil squad. They have so much quality. We just have to prepare and try to play the best we can because we know they have quality on every single possession. And we know if they have to make substitutions, they have quality.”
Scotland has never beaten Brazil in 10 meetings and is winless in eight previous World Cup matches against South American opponents. Brazil has lost only one of its last 16 World Cup group matches against European teams.
Scotland coach Steve Clarke grew up admiring Brazil after watching the dominance of the 1970 team featuring Pelé. He noted he's excited to face the powerhouse that he grew to love.
“But tomorrow night,” Clarke said, "we have to not love Brazil and love Scotland more."
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup
