Tommy Boyd's anguished face said it all for Scotland after they had flirted with the biggest result in their history on a day when passion almost upstaged poise at the start of the World Cup finals in the Stade de France.

For half an hour or more the Scots threatened to stand football logic on its head after John Collins's perfectly struck penalty approaching half-time had induced moments of undeniable stress among the aristocracy of Brazil.

Then, with 16 minutes of ordinary time left, we knew yet again that fortune doesn't always favour the brave when the Celtic player had the monumental misfortune to knock Jim Leighton's save into his own net.

In that moment, Scotland sensed that their World Cup hardship would be on-going and Boyd, his expression betraying his horror, knew that his mistake would haunt him for the rest of his days.

It was the kind of crass error which has littered the history of Scottish football on the days it mattered most and the effect will be to plunge them into another crisis of confidence even before this championship gathers momentum.

For Brazil, the scale of their escape was reflected in the reaction of Dunga, their indestructible midfielder who at 35 still retains enough of his old skill to provide the launch pad for the best of their attacks. Instinctively, he ran to hug Ronaldo who, more than most, had come to endure the tenacity of the Scots.

If victory was interpreted as no more than the fulfilment of their destiny, the champions knew yet again that exposed to European competition on European terrain they are still far from impregnable.

Buoyed by a goal after just four minutes, they dominated the opposition so comprehensively that they might have been three goals clear at the end of the first quarter. With an authority which bordered on arrogance, they ran all over the Scots in that period when Rivaldo, Bebeto and, not least, Ronaldo tormented the defence.

Ronaldo's sleight of foot turned Colin Hendry so many times in one breathtaking run that the Scottish skipper was in danger of meeting himself coming back, but gradually, inexorably, Scotland forced their way back into the game.

At the height of their troubles, they had been sustained by the European experience of Paul Lambert and John Collins and the indomitable spirit of Hendry in central defence. Then, suddenly, the rest of the team took flame.

From a situation in which he had earlier stood like an oak at the centre of the defence, Junior Baiano was now a lot less dominant and there had already been unmistakable signs of panic in their defence when Cesar Sampaio was guilty of the foul on Kevin Gallacher which enabled Collins to equalise from the penalty spot in the 37th minute.

That Gallacher was impeded as he sought to converge on Gordon Durie's knockdown was scarcely in question. And yet, the Spanish referee, Aranda Garcia, warranted the admiration of the neutrals in a crowd of 80,000 by the manner in which he resisted the obvious pressure and ran directly to the penalty spot.

Garcia's handling of the game was at all times exemplary and his interpretation of the new rule governing the tackle from behind was sufficiently mature to obviate the danger of players being punished unfairly. The Brazilians, not above theatrics when the game was running against them, didn't help him greatly but overall the introduction of the new legislation went fairly smoothly.

There were, of course, moments of controversy, not least when Collins drove a 25 yards free into the defensive wall and the ball appeared to touch a Brazilian arm before being hustled to safety. But overall the result was a fair one, even if the manner of the Scots' capitulation was cruel in the extreme.

On occasions, Ronaldo's skill was mesmerising. Yet, when the game condensed into its critical phase early in the second half, it was Rivaldo's powerful long-range shooting which posed the bigger threat. Twice, he missed the target only narrowly and when he eventually got one on target, he found Jim Leighton perfectly placed to make the save.

One of Leighton's saves, after Roberto Carlos had caught the ball on the meat, was a thing of splendour and while he subsequently drew gasps of dismay from the Scottish fans by dropping the ball in a crowded goalmouth, his was a performance which grew in confidence as the game progressed.

It was an unlikely scenario after the horror of those opening minutes when after Hendry had been forced to concede a corner, Cesar Sampaio nonchalantly shrugged aside Craig Burley's challenge to get the vital touch with his shoulder and score from no more than a couple of yards.

The decisive goal, the product initially of a superb pass by Dunga in behind the Scottish defence, was nothing short of tragic for the losers. Leighton managed to parry Cafu's first attempt only to see the inrushing Boyd put the ball into his own net.

Earlier Hendry had come close to suffering a similar fate, but no less than Lambert, Collins and for a short spell, Gallacher, the team captain had been quite immense in pointing the way back for the Scots at a stage when they were in imminent danger of being over-run.