Kieran Tierney admits the only thing left for Scotland to do at the World Cup is pray, after a disastrous 3-0 defeat to Brazil in Miami left their hopes hanging by a thread.
Scotland's Fate Out of Their Hands
Steve Clarke's side are now relying on results in other groups to go their way if they are to scrape through to the last 32. The manager conceded after the loss that they will likely fly home early, having failed to make history by reaching the knockout stage for the first time.
The defeat to Brazil, featuring a double from Vinicius Jr and a goal from Matheus Cunha, severely dented Scotland's goal difference, dropping from minus two to minus three. This dramatically reduced their chances of qualification.
Tierney's Disappointment
Celtic defender Tierney was left deflated by the campaign and gutted that they are now relying on favours from elsewhere. He said: "We're flat. We know we could have done a lot better. It wasn't a great result for us (v Brazil). And it means now we're waiting on other teams to do us favours. All you can do is hope."
He added: "We will definitely watch the other games. We need to see who does what. We're waiting on favours, so we'll be supporting the teams that we need to support to get us through. We'll go back to our base, recover then just hope and pray."
Frustration Despite Effort
Tierney cannot fault the team's work-rate but admitted frustration at their performance. "We didn't want to be in this position; we wanted to do it ourselves. It was a really tough group, a really tough draw. But we know ourselves that we could have done a lot better, especially on Wednesday night," he said.
He expressed regret that they had not done better but insisted they left everything on the pitch. "Will we have regrets? It's hard to say regrets because to me that feels like we never gave everything and I don't think that's the case. There's regret that we haven't done better but no regrets that we never left everything on the pitch."
World Cup Experience
Tierney, who replaced Andy Robertson at half-time against Brazil, described the experience of playing at his first World Cup as amazing. He praised the Tartan Army, saying: "The fans were incredible. I think that's why we're disappointed as well because they deserve better."
He added: "I'm so grateful to be here. It's the first one in 28 years for the country. Just to see the scenes with the fans enjoying themselves and the country all together as one has been amazing."
Despite the disappointment, Tierney believes Scotland can be proud of their efforts, though he felt they could have done better against Brazil. The team now waits and hopes for a miracle to keep their World Cup dream alive.
