Scotland must regroup quickly for Brazil test after Morocco defeat, says Clarke

Scotland manager Steve Clarke is calling on his players to regroup swiftly following their narrow 1-0 World Cup defeat against Morocco. The team now faces the daunting task of preparing for their final Group C fixture against the formidable five-time champions, Brazil.

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First of all, you have to let the players suffer a little bit over the next 48 hours, because that's what they'll do. They don't like losing against anybody. So we'll rest, recover and be ready to go again. The games don't get much easier.

Scotland currently holds three points from their two matches. They secured their first World Cup victory in 36 years by defeating Haiti 1-0, but subsequently fell to Morocco in Massachusetts. The upcoming match against Brazil on the final matchday will determine their progression, as the top two teams in each group, along with the eight best third-placed sides, advance.

Clarke acknowledged the immediate need for his squad to process the loss. "First of all, you have to let the players suffer a little bit over the next 48 hours, because that's what they'll do. They don't like losing against anybody," he told reporters. "So we'll rest, recover and be ready to go again. The games don't get much easier."

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I thought we picked ourselves up in the first half, to be fair. Maybe it took us 10 minutes to get into the game, because obviously you've got a setback like that. It's really difficult to respond. Weaker teams would have crumbled, I think, against that quality of opposition, but we dug in.

Morocco seized control early in the match, scoring the tournament's fastest goal via Ismael Saibari just 71 seconds into the game. Despite the early setback, Clarke praised his team's response. "I thought we picked ourselves up in the first half, to be fair," he said. "Maybe it took us 10 minutes to get into the game, because obviously you've got a setback like that. It's really difficult to respond. Weaker teams would have crumbled, I think, against that quality of opposition, but we dug in."

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We got ourselves back in the game. We started moving the ball about a little bit better, and I thought the second period of the first half, after the hydration break, we were good. We had good momentum going into halftime, and we carried that into the second half, and we had a right go.

Clarke expressed pride in his players' efforts despite the devastating outcome. "We got ourselves back in the game. We started moving the ball about a little bit better, and I thought the second period of the first half, after the hydration break, we were good. We had good momentum going into halftime, and we carried that into the second half, and we had a right go." He also commented on two penalty appeals in the second half, noting that one involving John McGinn was a "50-50" call that VAR did not overturn.

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Proud of the players, but obviously 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.