Dare I dream that Scotland's World Cup dream is over at last? The torture of the nation's performance has been piercing, and the inglorious end that awaits cannot come a moment too soon.

There is a sense of melancholy to be found in watching a nation's footballing soul flicker on the periphery of a tournament it has waited so long to grace.

A mess against Brazil, Steve Clarke’s side find themselves in purgatory, hanging around as a faint hope of progression to the last 32 lives on