What it’s REALLY like to line up against Brazil at the World Cup… by four men who lived to tell the tale

Scotland have played Brazil at the World Cup four times in the past 52 years. The wait for that elusive victory goes on.

Ahead of Wednesday’s game in Miami, Daily Mail Sport’s John McGarry speaks to those who can attest to what it’s like to stand in a tunnel beside the samba stars and then walk out to face the men who wear the most famous jersey in football.

David Hay, Germany 1974 — Scotland 0 Brazil 0.

‘We were pretty pleased to have beaten Zaire 2-0 in the opener. It was Scotland’s first game in the World Cup since 1958. On reflection, we probably took the foot off the gas and we suffered for it at the end through goal difference.

‘Brazil were the holders back then. That side from 1970 with Pele was one I remembered fondly, but the one we faced were a different team.

‘Only Wilson Piazza, Roberto Rivelino and Jairzinho remained from the side which won the trophy in Mexico. And they certainly had a different approach.

‘They were really physical. I think they’d learned their lesson from England in 1966 when they were kicked off the park on some occasions. They weren’t going to let that happen again.

‘Standing in the tunnel in Frankfurt, that yellow jersey still had an aura about it. Everyone has that feeling about Brazil. You just don’t want to let yourself, your team-mates and your country down.

‘They started on top. Myself and Billy Bremner were the central midfielders and they were outgunning us.

‘Kenny Dalglish was playing up front with Joe Jordan. We pulled Kenny back a bit deeper and started getting more control of the game.

‘I genuinely felt we deserved to win. When we got near the end, it was clear that Brazil were happy with a draw.

‘There was the famous one with Billy where it came off the goalie, hit off him and went wide. It was like pinball. It wasn’t the bad miss some people made it out to be.

‘I don’t remember being disappointed that were hadn’t won. We were pleased with our performance. There was still the Yugoslavia came to come so it was in our own hands.

‘But, on reflection, you do look back and feel we could have beaten Brazil and probably deserved to. That highlights the level of performance.

‘We just didn’t do enough to win the last game. All these years on, we’re still talking about the team being unbeaten and going out.’

Alan Rough, Spain 1982 — Brazil 4 Scotland 1

‘Fortunately enough, we had Jock Stein in charge. He’d been there and done it all in football.

‘We all knew that the first game against New Zealand was a must-win and we managed to take care of that.

‘The chances of us beating Brazil were probably pretty slim. Jock told us just to out there, enjoy ourselves and to sample the atmosphere.

‘The be all and end all was going to be beating the USSR in the final match. So, we didn’t feel like we were under huge pressure.

‘A few of us had faced Brazil before in a friendly in 1977 in the Maracana but this was obviously different.

‘We watched their first game against USSR. They were impressive but we were also aware that nations like them can sometimes take a wee bit of time to get going at a tournament.

‘So many of their players like Socrates, Zico and Eder were at the top of their careers.

‘I remember the warm-up. I was watching our players doing their thing and the sweat was absolutely bucketing off them. Every jersey was soaking wet. It wasn’t so much the heat as the humidity.

‘The game hadn’t even started. I remember Graeme Souness saying that he lost so many pounds in that one game.

‘Meanwhile, the Brazilians were just strolling about. There wasn’t a bed of sweat on them.

‘We were full pelt from the start. Then Dave Narey scored. You are hopeful that it might just be one of those nights, but they just upped their game.

‘Their passing got quicker, their movement got better. Their big players all turned up.

‘I’ve got a picture on my wall of that Scotland team. We’d six or seven European Cup winners and our striker (Steve Archibald) played for Barcelona.

‘I’ve got another picture of Zico’s free-kick which shows you the trajectory of where the ball was destined to go. Even if I’d have seen it, I wouldn’t have got near it.

‘The consolation was that that Brazilian team is probably still the greatest never to have won the World Cup. It was bordering on their 1970 team. How they were knocked out by Italy, I’ll never know as they were immense in that match and just lost bad goals.

‘They were a joy to watch. Just not a joy to play against.’

Maurice Malpas, Italy 1990 — Brazil 1 Scotland 0

‘They had some big names like Romario and Careca but they weren’t stick-ons to go and win the World Cup.

‘The first game against Costa Rica was a disaster but we played so well against Sweden. On that day, we could have beaten anyone. We were so wound up that night.

‘We were still on a high going into the Brazil game.

‘We watched one of the training sessions and it was unbelievable how hard they worked. They were bang at it.

‘People talk about the Brazilian style of play, but they were fit as fiddles and were direct. They had pace and strength in their team.

‘For my generation, the team was Brazil — Pele, Jairzinho and Tostao. You never saw them that often but if they were on the television, you watched them.

‘Then you find yourself walking out to play them in the World Cup. It’s kind of surreal, isn’t it?

‘When you are standing for the national anthems, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. But, as a professional football player, you get over that quickly. You’ve a job on hand and that’s to beat them.

‘I remember Murdo MacLeod getting hit on the head from the free kick by Branco. His head was spinning for a couple of days, never mind minutes.

‘We thought we were going to sneak a draw, but we lost a late goal. Right at the end, Claudio Taffarel pulled off an incredible save from Maurice Johnston. That’s when you know your luck is out. So near yet so far. The old Scottish story.

‘We weren’t quite out on the night. We had to wait on other results going our way, but they didn’t. It was a case of packing our bags and heading home the next day.

‘The only bit of advice I’d give this group of players is to enjoy it. There’s enough experience in the Scotland team to get them through games.

‘I don’t want to suggest that Brazil aren’t the best ream in the world right now. They could end up being different class.

‘Scotland have got to do what they are good at. It’s about what they do — not what the other team does.

‘Can they create chances and nick a goal? Can they defend properly? It’s not one thing. It’s the full picture they must get right on the day.’

Kevin Gallacher, France 1998 — Brazil 2 Scotland 1

‘Playing football in my mum and dad’s back garden, my dream was to play Brazil at the World Cup. When I sat and watched the draw that year and saw we were playing them in the first game, I shrank to about a 10-year-old.

‘You don’t realise just how special that opening game is until the lead-up. Every country on the planet is talking about it.

‘The team coach got held up in traffic on our way to the ground and that caused a few problems. We had arranged to turn up wearing kilts and we wanted that to be a surprise, so we were all covering ourselves up as the fans looked in at us.

‘We were really caught up in the atmosphere and it was then that it hit home just what a big deal this really was. We went out to have a look at the pitch before we got changed and it struck me immediately that the ground was almost completely full two hours before kick-off.

‘We had a squad full of experience, but I can’t deny there were nerves about being involved in such a massive fixture.

‘I was thinking about how I’d watched so many of their players on the telly and I was in awe of them a little. Going down the tunnel before the match and looking across to see those yellow jerseys was special.

‘We looked at who was wearing them — Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Dunga.

‘We couldn’t wait for the national anthem to come so that we could release some nervous tension. Everyone bellowed it at the top of their voices and it was really out of tune, but that did the trick for us.

‘Unfortunately, Cesar Sampaio put them in front after just four minutes with a header from a corner. We rarely lost goals from set-pieces so that left us shell-shocked for a bit before we got back into it through John Collins’ penalty.

‘We were holding them comfortably and bothering them on the break. But then Tom Boyd scored a freak own goal and Gordon Durie missed a great chance in the second half.

‘If we’d got the second goal I’m convinced we’d have gone on to beat them, but we were still very proud of our performance and we walked off at the end with our heads held high.

‘It was our World Cup Final in a way and being part of it was awe-inspiring.’