Jack Hendry insists he will have “no fear” if he comes up against Neymar when Scotland face Brazil in their final World Cup group game on Wednesday.
The Scotland defender has played every minute of the tournament so far and is expected to start against Brazil as Steve Clarke’s side chase a piece of history.
Scotland have never beaten Brazil in 10 previous attempts, but Hendry is not short of experience against elite forwards.
The 31-year-old won man of the match for Brugge in a Champions League draw against Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, when he faced a front three of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
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Hendry has since faced Neymar again in Saudi Arabia, where he plays for Al-Ettifaq, and the defender is not treating a potential reunion as something to fear.
“I really enjoy playing at this level, I think it suits my game,” he said.
“I’m comfortable going up against Neymar,” he added. “I’ll look forward to it. It should be a really good battle if he plays.
“He got injured in Saudi, he did his ACL which was unfortunate. I’d have liked to play against him more. But I played against him twice in the Champions League (for Brugge) when he was at PSG – that was a good test. Their front three at that time was Messi, Mbappe and Neymar – so that’s not a bad front three.”
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Neymar set for Brazil return
Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti has all but confirmed Neymar will feature in a Brazil shirt for the first time since October 2023.
The forward is aiming to score in a fourth World Cup, but Hendry believes previous meetings with the game’s biggest attacking names give him confidence.
“All strikers have different attributes,” he said. “But off the top of my head, Mbappe, you’ve seen in this tournament how good he is. At this moment in time, he’s probably one of the best players in the world if not the best.
“Then Benzema from a striker’s point of view, he’s just a killer. And then Cristiano Ronaldo, obviously he speaks for himself. I’ve been lucky to come up against these types of players a number of times. That gives you confidence when you play against them and do well. It’s great experience for me. You have to go into the game with no fear. It’s important to have these challenges before because you gain confidence. You want to be playing against the world’s best players. I look forward to it.”
Hendry also addressed footage of Scott McTominay appearing to remonstrate with him during a water break in Scotland’s 1-0 defeat to Morocco.
“It maybe came across differently on camera,” he said. “It’s an emotional game we’re playing with a lot on the line.
“I don’t think Scott was letting rip as such. He was just trying to communicate (something). In those moments, maybe it gets the better of you. But there were no harsh words said.”
Scotland now face Brazil knowing a famous result could transform their tournament, and Hendry says Clarke’s squad can use the weight of history as motivation.
“We can use the history as fuel, for sure,” said Hendry. “Brazil’s history speaks for itself. Scotland is a nation with players of not such a high calibre as them.
“As a nation, they’ll expect to win this game. But with the squad we’ve got and the performances we’ve shown so far, there’s confidence within the group that we can get a result. That’s going to be the main focus, to try and win it. That’s the aim. Hopefully we can put on a good performance, the nation can get behind us and we can create history.”
Hendry was only three when Scotland last faced Brazil at a World Cup in 1998, but the fixture still carries obvious meaning.
“My first memory of Brazil is the Brazilian Ronaldo,” he said. “Everyone looked up to him and maybe got the haircut because it’s iconic, isn’t it? Roberto Carlos used to score those free-kicks. So when you think of World Cups, Brazil always comes into the conversation. So to now potentially play against them is what dreams are made of.”
