Thousands of excited fans have now arrived in Florida ahead of our final Group C match against Brazil at the Hard Rock Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Tartan Army invasion of Miami is in full swing as supporters soak up the atmosphere in one of America’s most iconic cities. Thousands of excited fans have now arrived in Florida ahead of our final Group C match against Brazil at the Hard Rock Stadium on Wednesday night.
A draw against the Samba superstars would all-but guarantee qualification through a group at a major tournament for the very first time, while even a loss might be enough if results in other groups go our way.
With temperatures in the sunshine state rarely dropping below the mid-30s this week, the conditions are going to be tough for our national heroes. But optimistic fans who have travelled out here still believe we have enough to do it.
Lisa Gardener – who is over here with her husband Scott, 53, son Fraser, 17, and daughter Heather, 21 – is just one of those many hopeful supporters, and the family are considering staying out in North America if we do get through.
The 52-year-old said: “It’s really exciting to be here. It feels like much more of the world is in Miami compared to Boston, where it was predominantly Scotland fans.
“It was magnificent over there – the people were amazing. But here, there’s people from everywhere. And you’re seeing everyone get excited about their games, which is just fantastic.
“It’s fantastic to see all the Scotland fans arriving. It makes you so proud that so many people have come over to be part of it and brought their families as well.
“We’ve been in the Tartan Army for many years. My husband went to France in 1998, as a single man, and told me that one day it would be great fun if we could do it together.
“But we didn’t imagine it would be 28 years before we did it together – and we’ve brought our children with us as well. The whole thing is just like a dream just now.”
Scotland fans have indeed been joined in Miami by football supporters from all over the world. And as Harrison Wells, a 24-year-old from Greenock, and Ewan McBeath, a 24-year-old Newmachar, in Aberdeenshire, sipped on Sex on the Beach cocktails they were soon joined by Colombians, desperate to get pictures of the pair in their kilts.
The duo are currently living in Perth, Australia, and Ewan said: “We’re having an amazing time – we’re a bit f***ing hot, but it’s been fantastic! Boston was amazing, they ran out of drink and we had to resort to bottles in the end – but it’s so far so good here.
“Our hotel is in south beach so we plan to just chill out on the beach and drink a few sangrias before the game. To be out here and beating Brazil, the whole place would just go mental. I think we can get a result, Morocco are a better side.”
Harrison added: “We flew out on the 10th but we’ve come from Australia so it took us about 30 hours to get here – but it’s been worth every single second.
“I don’t think anything will be able to compare to Boston but we will just have to wait and see. We’re going to have some booze and enjoy the beach – you can’t go wrong. I honestly think we can beat Brazil but I’ll take a point.”
Supporters have been enjoying the South Beach area where Scots have been joined by thousands of Brazil fans. Others have been taking in the stunning sights at the Bayside area, near the fan zone, as they cooled down by grabbing a beer near one of the many huge fans.
Aidan McKenna, a 32-year-old engineer from Wishaw, Des McKenna, 52, retired and Ian Lochart, a 57-year-old delivery driver were enjoying cooling off when the Record headed over to them.
Aidan said: “Other than the heat – the trip has been amazing. We had a week in New York then came here. It’s already been incredible. We have been down at South Beach and there was loads of Scotland fans and Brazil fans down there, it’s been brilliant.
“We’re still trying to get tickets but if not we will watch the game down here and just soak up the atmosphere. We are going to the Marlins game for the baseball and take in the Brazil game, then maybe head down to Muscle Beach too!”
There has been more of a family atmosphere in Miami compared with the wild scenes witnessed across Boston over the last week and a half. Richard Cook, a 54-year-old who works in sports management, is over from Glasgow with his wife Elaine, 55, who works at Glasgow University, and their kids Myles, 16, and Oscar, 12.
Richard said: “Miami is such an epic place. The environment is just fantastic. Full of people in good spirits. We were enjoying watching the match on Sunday night with the Cape Verde fans. Everything has just been fantastic.
“Colombia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Argentina, all in there, all supporting the underdog. It’s such a nice atmosphere. We are meeting up with some friends tomorrow and we plan to go to the baseball too.
“We came out specifically for this match. When I met Elaine our first match we went to together was Scotland versus Brazil, the opening match of France 98.”
Elaine added: “Now we are married and we have two kids, so we thought we had to be here now it’s gone full circle. We just want a different result now!”
Meanwhile Jane Jackson, a 47-year-old executive assistant from West Lothian, has been loving her time in Miami with her husband Neil, 49, and their kids Daisy, 17 and Neil, 49.
Jane said: “We’re having a fabulous time. The weather is great, we’ve been enjoying checking out the fan zone. We’re really happy.
“We’ve been round the Wynwood art district which was fantastic. We’ve cooled down in the pool. We’ve got friends coming out to meet us too – it’s been a lot of fun.
“We’re just seeing more and more Scotland fans arriving by the minute. We met a few at the hotel and I’m sure there will be more and more each day, it’s really exciting.”
Daisy said: “It’s been really good – the atmosphere has been really good, but it’s really hot here! We’ve got our fans though so we’re getting by with those.
“We’re going to watch the game in the fan zone here – unless the ticket prices go down. I’m confident we are going to get a win and get out this group. I’m predicting a 2-0 win!”
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