Belgians focussed on Rio ahead of Scotland clash STAND-in Belgium captain Daniel van Buyten yesterday described his goal on his last appearance at Hampden in 2001 as a "nice souvenir." It was more than that - the late equaliser helped to take his country to the World Cup finals in Japan and Korea. Belgium, and Van Buyten, are back in Glasgow again for another World Cup qualifier this evening, and in circumstances that are rather different. Scotland were then at the start of a long decline. Belgium, meanwhile, have leapt into the top ten teams in the world. Victory against Scotland would strengthen their position at the top of Group A, though not everything is going their way. Playmaker Eden Hazard last night limped off during their training session at Hampden, and there is now severe doubt about his involvement this evening. Gordon Strachan, the Scotland manager, believes Belgium are contenders to win the World Cup next summer in Brazil. Marc Wilmots, his opposite number, graciously accepted this praise, and offered some in return. He described Scotland as being "back" yesterday. "We will suffer tomorrow," he anticipated. "Scotland are not that bad because they have played two very good last games against very good opponents, Croatia and England," he said. They had a bad start in this group but now they're back. Helping Scotland's cause are the injury worries that Wilmots reported. It got worse for the manager later in the evening when Hazard's Achilles injury flared up again. The Chelsea player is joined by three others as doubtful, all of whom would have been probable starters. Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Axel Witzel and the Tottenham Hotspur pair Jan Vertoghen and Nacer Chadli. "Everyone will train and we'll assess their reaction with the medical staff in the morning," said Wilmots, although the limping Hazard was a later development, and was witnessed by around 100 Belgium fans who spent yesterday's training session testing the acoustics inside Hampden Park. Like Van Buyten, Wilmots was happy to return to the scene of Belgium's fine comeback against Scotland 12 years ago. "I'm very happy to be back in Scotland, a country that breeds football, that breeds sport because the moment we were on Scottish shores we saw golf courses and football fields," he said at the start of last night's press conference. I have good memories of Scotland when I played here with Bordeaux against Celtic and also with the national team, when I scored a goal 12 years ago. While it left a scar on the Scottish psyche, the return from two goals down to make it 2-2 resuscitated Belgium's own hopes of qualifying for the finals. Wilmots got things started with the first goal, while the gentleman sitting to his right last night scored the late equaliser on only his second cap. Now 35, Van Buyten has since won three German titles with Bayern Munich as well as the Champions League last season. Wilmots is now in charge of a team that has been transformed. Could he explain why the paths of Scotland and Belgium have diverged so drastically in recent times, he was asked last night. "We have a strong bench," he answered. This is the heart of our team. We are all working in the same direction now, which wasn't the case before. "We started working on the basics with young players," he added. You have to be lucky with generations, but we worked on the basics and this is very important. You can add discipline, the collective spirit, make sure there are no egos. Informed of Strachan's comment that he expects them to be challengers for the World Cup - should they get there - Wilmots replied: "It's nice when you get good reactions but it can go so fast the other way. We have a very young team so anything can happen. Vertonghen also sounded a note of caution. Although Belgium could take a huge stride towards Brazil with a win this evening, their participation in South America is still not assured. There is no use being lauded and then failing to make it to the major competitions, particularly since Belgium have not qualified for the World Cup since 2002. "But we have to go the World Cup next year to show it to the rest of the world," he said, in response to an observation that Belgium are many people's pick as dark horses. If we don't go there no one will see what Belgium is capable of. As for Scotland, the Spurs player was kind. "Scotland have good players," he said. Most are playing in the Premier League or the Scottish [Premier] League. A few of them play for Celtic in the Champions League and they show a good mentality. Brown v Fellaini is pick of key battles at Hampden THE sight of Chelsea star Eden Hazard limping out of training at Hampden last night with a niggling Achilles injury was perhaps a welcome sight for the Scotland camp. But Gordon Strachan's men will be well aware that the Belgians have quite a few stars. Here we pick out three key battles ahead of tonight's World Cup qualifier. Russell Martin v Christian Benteke Martin started out as a right-back but has been transformed into a central defender for club and country. He produced a polished performance against Croatia and, despite a less impressive display that saw the Scots concede three poor goals against England, the Norwich man is expected to make his Hampden debut. Martin has hailed Benteke as one of the best strikers in Europe. The powerful striker hit 23 goals for Aston Villa in his first season in English football and has four already this term after signing a new contract. Scott Brown v Marouane Fellaini Brown will again be handed the captain's armband in the absence of Darren Fletcher and will be looking for a repeat of his assured display at Wembley in last month's friendly international. As skipper of Celtic, the midfielder has already faced some of the best players in the world and will not be overawed. The Belgian midfield boasts some of the top talent in the world, including Fellaini, who earned a last-gasp £27.5 million move to David Moyes" Manchester United on transfer deadline day. A tall, strong midfielder, Fellaini showed at Everton he has the ability to create and attack but can be equally as effective in a more defensive role. Jordan Rhodes v Daniel Van Buyten Kenny Miller's retirement means Scotland need a new talismanic frontman and Rhodes could be the player to fill the void. He famously netted 40 goals in a season with Huddersfield to earn his move to Blackburn and has scored four in his last two matches. Van Buyten scored a last-gasp equaliser - his first goal for his country - when Belgium last played at Hampden in the qualifiers for the 2002 finals. The powerful Bayern Munich centre-back will relish a return to Glasgow with ten international goals and more than 70 caps to his name.