Anthony Ralston was part of the first Scotland side to beat Brazil at any level, youth or senior – and he made his name against Neymar.
Ralston, who made his World Cup debut in the 1-0 loss to Morocco, now reunites with Selecao’s main man on football’s grandest stage.
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The Tartan Army face the five-time World Cup winners in their final group stage match this evening, live on eSPORTY, in Miami.
Brazil are the team Scotland have faced most internationally without ever winning, with eight defeats and two draws from 10 meetings.
However, one player expected to be named on Steve Clarke’s bench tonight does know exactly what it’s like to taste victory over Brazil.
Celtic defender Ralston was part of the Scottish Under-20 side that recorded a first victory over the Selecao at any level in June 2017.
Three months later, the-then 18-year-old found himself facing Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on only his sixth senior start.
Ralston was handed the unenviable task of man-marking Neymar, who had only just become the world’s most expensive footballer.
While the Bhoys went on to lose 5-0, the Scot won his personal battle with the former Barcelona star by leaving him fuming throughout.
Neymar refused to swap shirts with Scotland star
Ralston wound up Neymar by laughing in his face after the latter was booked for simulation, and fiery exchanges ensued.
Thiago Silva even stepped in between the pair at full-time, as Neymar snubbed the Celtic player’s request to shake hands and swap shirts.
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“It was not a big deal. I won’t dwell on that too much,” A teenage Ralston said at full-time on his interaction with Neymar.
“If that is the case, and that is the way he wants to be, then fine. I don’t care.
“Like I said, everybody is different, so I won’t lose any sleep over it.”
In fact, it may have been Neymar losing sleep ahead of their reunion as he itches to finally get his World Cup campaign underway.
Brazil’s all-time leading scorer ruptured his ACL against Uruguay in October 2023 and hasn’t played for his country since due to injury.
But Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that the Santos superstar is now fit and ready to play against Scotland after returning to full training.
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Regardless of whether he does make an appearance, Kevin Gallacher, who played in three major tournaments for Scotland, claimed his country will sit back and look to play on the counter.
“That’s what we’ve got to be careful about, knowing what we have to do,” he told eSPORTY Breakfast with Andy Goldstein and Gabby Agbonlahor.
“That’s the good thing is that we’re sitting in a very good position.
“So, do we go and throw all guns blazing at Brazil and try to get something, or do we sit back and counterattack?
“I think the latter looks like it’s more Steve Clarke’s way of doing it, and it might be a 5-4-1 situation where keep the score down as much as you can and having seen Vinicius and Haiti play a high line and they exploited it, so I think Scotland will play a deep lying line now and make it that little bit more difficult for the pace beyond them.
“Organisation is key in football,” Gallacher continued.
“If you’re not organised and not playing as individuals, and Scotland play as a team, so Steve will get them organised, but it’s a hard work, and it’s going to be the temperatures as well, because it will be warm and that Scottish red skin just won’t seem to merit in the beautiful sunshine of Miami.
“So you’ve got to conserve your energy, and hopefully their passing will be a lot better, and they’ll be able to play a little bit of football.”
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Scotland record vs Brazil
Gallacher was part of the last Tartan Army side to face the Brazilians at the World Cup, in which his side lost 2-1 en route to a group-stage exit.
“I think ’98 squad, when we walked to the tunnel, and you looked across [Cláudio] Taffarel, Cafu, [Roberto] Carlos, Aldair, Junior Baiano, Dunga, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, they were all household names.
“I think now you’ve got about five. You’ve got Neymar, Vinicius, and then you’ve got Alisson in goal.
“So for me, ’98 was a dream, and they were world champions.
“This Brazil, they’re not world champions, but they still carry the five stars of the World Cup, and that’s a big danger.”
And unlike Ralston’s first meeting with Neymar, Gallacher did manage to get a shirt that day.
“I got Aldair’s. I managed to take them out of my pocket for a couple of minutes to get a shirt!”
