In one corner of the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, there is a huge area where a DJ pumps out all kinds of heavy bass and techno music.
Any time a goal is scored, it can almost feel like the place turns into a nightclub. It was Brazil who did all the dancing last night, with Scotland clumsily tripping over their own feet.
That has been the case for much of this World Cup, with Steve Clarke’s side crashing to defeat with another largely insipid performance against the five-time champions.
The strobe lighting illuminated this arena on three occasions last night after each goal scored by a Brazil team who cruised through much of this match in second gear.
For Scotland, there were no disco lights. Instead, Clarke’s men were clinging on for dear life in an effort to keep the lights on in this World Cup adventure.
Make no mistake, this was a damaging night. Scotland knew that victory or a draw would have taken them into the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
Scott McKenna’s face says it all as Vinicius Junior turns to celebrate his early opener
Even a defeat by only one or two goals might well have been enough. But losing by a three-goal margin? That changes things.
Their fate is now in the lap of the Gods. It will be a waiting game over the next 48 hours or so, praying that results elsewhere go in their favour.
It was Vinicius Junior who inflicted much of the damage last night, scoring twice to take his tally to four goals in three games in this World Cup.
But Scotland will rue another night where they often pointed a gun at their own feet and refused to stop firing.
Despite the threat of thunderstorms and a potential weather delay prior to kick-off, the area around the stadium managed to avoid the worst of it.
There was one deluge in the afternoon but it never amounted to much, lasting only 10 minutes or so, and it was certainly never going to dampen the spirits of both sets of supporters.
The main fanzone outside the stadium was a sea of yellow and navy blue, swaying to a samba rhythm and a soundtrack of bagpipes with a heavy bass drum from the DJ.
Angus Gunn and Nathan Patterson can only watch as Neymar heads home at the back post
In amongst it all were Dunga and Denilson, two Brazilian legends who played for the Selecao the last time these nations met in a World Cup in 1998, now doing media work on TV.
There is a statue outside the stadium of Dan Marino, the legendary Miami Dolphins quarterback. When Scotland fans caught sight of it, Marino wound up with a traffic cone on his head.
For all these two countries have a very different pedigree in the World Cup, they share a mutual love of football and the scenes were simply joyous as thousands of fans mingled and shared this experience together.
Once they made their way inside, the majority of the Scotland fans were stationed behind the goal at one end of the stadium, with the odd pocket sprinkled elsewhere.
They were massively outnumbered, maybe even as much as five-to-one, but they were not to be out-sang. In the nation’s biggest football match in a generation, they bounced and boogied louder than ever before.
Clarke had been fairly bold with his team selection, making four changes from the 1-0 loss to Morocco, with Lawrence Shankland and Ben Gannon-Doak both coming back into the starting XI.
Vinicius Junior celebrates with midfielder Bruno Guimaraes after heading Brazil’s second
Despite plenty of chatter about Neymar being fit again, he started the match on the bench, with Vinicius Junior deployed on the left flank against Nathan Patterson.
Scotland were knocking the ball around well in the opening exchanges and looked comfortable. Maybe a little too comfortable, to the point that they became over-confident.
Disaster struck on seven minutes when Scott McKenna, who had come into the team for Grant Hanley, took a clumsy touch on the edge of his own box and allowed Rayan to pounce.
The ball broke for Vinicius and, after calmly taking a touch to go round Angus Gunn, the Real Madrid superstar slotted home into an empty net.
It was a moment of utter calamity for Scotland. Hanley had been at fault for Morocco’s opening goal after 70 seconds in Boston. On this occasion, his replacement was equally culpable.
Scotland were determined to be the architects of their own downfall. On 20 minutes, Scott McTominay lost the ball cheaply in the middle of the field and Brazil surged forward on the counter.
Matheus Cunho slides home Brazil’s third to silence the Tartan Army
The move finished with Vinicius steering one just wide of the post with the outside of his boot, but it was another huge warning to Scotland.
On the touchline, Clarke was going bonkers. Just a couple of minutes later, another heinous act of self-sabotage did not improve the mood of the Scotland manager.
Jack Hendry had no options available ahead of him and turned to play the ball back to Gunn, only to be robbed by Vinicius.
The Brazil forward raced clear and slotted low past Gunn to ripple the Scotland net once more. But the goal was disallowed after a VAR check, with Vinicius deemed to clip Hendry’s heels as he nicked the ball away.
Carlo Ancelotti was furious. Let’s just say it was extremely soft. From Scotland’s point of view, it was a massive let-off.
In the dying embers of the first half, Brazil doubled their lead when Andy Robertson gave the ball away to allow Bruno Guimaraes to float a cross over to the back post.
Steve Clarke tries to rouse his troops as their World Cup dreams fall flat in Miami
Gunn misjudged the flight of it and Vinicius nodded home for his second of the night. Yet again, it was another awful goal to concede.
Moments later, a sublime touch from Rayan then took him clean through one-on-one with Gunn, but the Scotland keeper made a vital save on this occasion.
It was another 45 minutes where Scotland’s big-game players just did not turn up. McTominay, in particular, was dreadful in the first half.
Now 2-0 down and chasing a lost cause, this was already damage limitation from Scotland’s point of view as they came out for the start of the second half.
In the space of 45 minutes, they had fallen from third to sixth in the rankings of the third-placed teams. Their World Cup future hung by a thread.
Kieran Tierney came on to replace Robertson at half-time and, within five minutes of the restart, he created Scotland’s best chance of the night.
It was Tierney’s cross from the left that found McTominay in the middle of the box, but his header was tame and straight at Alisson. It was Scotland’s first shot on target since McGinn opened the scoring against Haiti.
Ben Gannon-Doak runs at Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel as he tries to spark an attack
By the time we reached the hour, Brazil had made it 3-0, with Newcastle United midfielder Guimaraes laying it off for Manchester United forward Matheus Cunha to tap home.
Brazil were on easy street, they were walking it in. In the stands, the crowd chanted for Neymar to be introduced from the bench. For Scotland fans, the cry was nae mair.
McTominay had another header just after the hour which forced a good save from Alisson. Although the game was long gone, goal difference still mattered.
Scotland played better in the final 20 minutes or so but it was all too little, too late. The damage had been done. Ralston laid one one for McTominay in the closing seconds, but Alisson made the save again.
Clarke and his players will now head back to their base in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their World Cup dream is now living on a prayer.
