THE news of the death of former Scotland and Leeds United captain Billy Bremner at the age of 54 stunned Scottish football yesterday especially coming, as it did, when the nation had been drawn against Brazil in the finals of the World Cup once more.

When Scotland met the Brazilians for the first time in the tournament, in Frankfurt in 1974, and drew 0-0, Bremner was there. Bremner was captain and the inspirational figure in that clash.

In later years, the midfield player would dwell on the fact that most people remembered the game because he missed a scoring opportunity which might have given Scotland victory.

But most of us who were there recalled that dramatic night in West Germany for other reasons:

For the way Bremner organised the team on-field after an opening spell when it seemed as if the Scots would be cut to ribbons by the World Cup holders:

For the way he epitomised what has always been best in Scottish football; style and combativeness in an equal mix with a dash of defiance which never accepted defeat:

Then, finally, at the end of the game, there was the meeting in the middle of the field when he and the Brazilian, Rivelhino, who had fought out a duel for 90 minutes, shook hands in a mutual gesture of admiration.

Bremner never did talk about that because that was not his way, but that was surely a moment he treasured from a career as a consumate professional.

In his time as captain of Leeds he helped the Elland Road side, under the guidance of Don Revie, to dominate the English game. In his decade in a Scotland jersey - half of that time as captain - he enjoyed triumphs which had been denied so often to players of an earlier era.

When the Scots qualified for the World Cup finals in 1974, for example, the country had not reached these dizzy heights for 16 years.

Even then, they had gone to Sweden in 1958 without anyone in authority at the SFA headquarters realising the growing importance of the tournament.

However, by the time the qualifying matches for West Germany came round, the World Cup had been played in England, the host nation had won it, and, a year after their victory, Bremner had been a member of the Scottish team that defeated the world champions at Wembley in 1967.

Just prior to the English finals, he had played against the Brazilians for the first time, in one of his early games for Scotland at Hampden.

The then Scotland team manager, John Prentice, asked him to perform a marking job on Pele, which Bremner did, admitting later: ''I hit him once early in the game and I just bounded off him. He was just so strong.''

His team-mates at Leeds could not understand the role he was often given. Jack Charlton, for one, believed his strength lay in his attacking skills and, eventually, he was allowed that freedom.

However, it was credit to Bremner's acute professionalism that he accepted all the roles he was given and performed them with distinction.

When Tommy Docherty took over as team manager for a brief spell, he gave Bremner his head, made him captain, and the two formed a professional relationship which helped Scotland reach those first finals in almost two decades, and a personal relationship which lasted until Bremner's death.

Last night, Docherty - still shaken by the news - said: ''I had no doubts in my mind when I took over as Scotland manager that Billy should be the captain. When I was at Chelsea we used to have some epic matches against Leeds and Billy was always outstanding.

''He was a tremendous player and someone I admired. He also had fantastic leadership qualities. When I was manager, we had a tremendous understanding. He was my right hand.

''I believe he was one of the greatest captains Scotland ever had. I remember going with the team to Brazil for a tournament and I've never known a squad of players who behaved better and who had such few hang-ups. A great deal of that was down to Billy's captaincy. I still can't believe this has happened.''

In the end, in the mid-1970s, following the World Cup in West Germany, his Scotland career ended in controversy after some off-field hi-jinks in Copenhagen brought down the wrath of the ''unco guid'' on his and other heads. It should not have ended that way, because Bremner deserved better.

In Marseille last week, at the World Cup draw, his was one of the Scottish names most often mentioned by journalists from around the globe.

I always felt Bremner would become a leading manager, but it never did happen for him and, eventually, he worked for radio and television and made sporadic appearances on the after-dinner speaking circuit.

The last time I spoke to him was before the qualifying game against Belarus and he talked of taking his daughter to Aberdeen and suggested we should meet up in France for a drink at the finals. His patriotism was unquenched.

Now, from the 1974 team, we have lost Jim Holton and Billy Bremner. That is hard to accept.

When you watched Bremner play, with those biting tackles halting the most fearsome of opponents and that red head thrusting aggressively forward into the midst of the action, it seemed that nothing would ever be able to stop that huge, huge heart which always beat for his country as well as himself.