Scotland’s World Cup hopes are doomed with a heavy defeat to Brazil, but John McGinn believes the three-goal defeat could be the end for Scotland.
John McGinn was realistic about Scotland’s chances of reaching the finals (Image: BBC)
John McGinn has insisted Scotland are “unlikely” to remain in the World Cup after losing 3-0 to Brazil, ending their chances of continuing in the tournament.
The Scotsman was the clear underdog going into Wednesday night’s encounter, but a narrow loss would have been enough to push him into the round of 32.
Scotland beat Haiti in their opening game of the World Cup and then lost to Morocco, but with a sizeable goal difference they always had a chance to pick up three points, but that was largely due to their 3-0 loss to the South American team.
Scotland were on the back foot from start to finish in Miami, but they were behind within 10 minutes after Vinicius Junior capitalized on a mistake to put Brazil ahead. The Real Madrid star looked to double the lead just before half-time, but only after VAR disallowed the extra point.
Matheus Cunha scored Brazil’s third goal, further damaging Scotland’s goal difference. The difference could prove decisive for Scotland as they aim to qualify for the knockout stages as one of the best teams in third place, but McGinn believes the damage could be too great.
He told the BBC: “We obviously ran out of steam. We conceded a poor goal at the wrong time against a team that punishes us for quality. We had some chances but now we have to wait. The players are lethargic and we lacked quality tonight, but we gave it our all. The players are empty. It’s unlikely (to qualify), but we’ll see.”
Scotland could do little as Brazil secured top spot in Group C.
The Aston Villa ace admitted Vinicius’s canceled goal, which came after VAR intervened and drew the referee’s attention to a foul on defender Jack Hendry, could have major implications in the grand scheme of things.
“In the moment they (Brazil) hurt you. They allowed us to have the ball, but at this level if you make a mistake you are punished. We were probably lucky that the (second) goal was disallowed,” he added.
Scotland coach Steve Clarke was less optimistic, lamenting that the defeat was self-inflicted. “We gave them a goal and gave them the game they wanted, but it was disappointing,” he said.
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