Christophe Berra does not believe Scotland's confidence will suffer as a result of their 2-0 defeat to Brazil.
Scotland defender takes positives from Brazil clash
Christophe Berra does not believe Scotland's confidence will suffer as a result of their 2-0 defeat to Brazil on Sunday.
Craig Levein's side went into the game on the back of 3-0 wins over the Faroe Islands and Northern Ireland and after a successful week's get-together in Spain.
However, they were outplayed by the five-time world champions, who only had two Neymar goals to show for their dominance over 90 minutes.
Wolves defender Berra does not believe the game halted Scotland's progress though, insisting that such an experience could only be of benefit.
Asked if confidence had suffered, he said: "Definitely not. It's Brazil, come on.
"They're one of the top two or three teams in the world and they have world-class players.
"It's disappointing that we got beat but we'll try not to get too downhearted about it.
"I think everyone will see things they could have done better but also take the positives from the things they did well.
"This is a very young squad, around the same age, and we've got many years ahead of us, hopefully.
"If we keep on showing the signs of improvement, I'm sure we'll do well in the next couple of years."
Improvement
The former Hearts defender admits he fulfilled a childhood dream by facing Brazil, adding: "It's a team everyone talks about when they're younger.
"We've got a long, long way to go but if we keep on showing signs of improvement, as we did in patches of the game and against Northern Ireland in the game before that, then hopefully we'll be ready for the qualifiers.
"We've got Wales and the Republic of Ireland next in the Carling Nations Cup, they will be tough games, different types of games but we'll be ready."
It was a tough afternoon at Emirates Stadium for Berra, who admitted he came up against problems he does not encounter on a weekly basis.
Brazil's fluidity, pace and technique provided a constant threat to the Scots, who might have suffered a heavier defeat.
"It was a difficult game," Berra said "As a defender, you've just got to stay disciplined.
"A lot of times against the top teams, you're not marking anyone.
"They've got a lot of runners and they try to pull you out of position to allow them to run into them.
"You've just got to stay in your area because if you get sucked in someone's going to run in and get a chance to score.
"They had chances but there were some good last-ditch tackles and some good saves."
