Belgium brush Scotland aside

De Bruyne masterclass is too much for Clarke’s men

SCOT L A N D’S stat us as an after-thought in i nte r n at ion a l footba l l these days is reinforced with every passing match after Belgium made light work of Steve Clarke’s bruised outfit last night.

In fact, the Belgians made lighter work of the Scots than they did San Marino at the weekend as they ran out 4-0 winners at Hampden.

The scoreline against the perennial minnows may have been the same on Friday night but at least the Sammarinese kept Belgium out for 43 minutes in their qualifier.

By that time at Hampden, any vague optimism that this would be the night Scotland stuck it to one of the big boys, something they used to do from time to time, had disappeared into the autumn night.

Any lingering hope of getting near qualification from Group I was also long gone on the back of Friday night’s hammering dished out by Russia.

The Russians were 2-1 winners in a match that could have been four or five.

The most galling thing in the opening half last night at Hampden was that it wasn’t like Roberto Martinez’s side were in full flow.

Far from it.

Scotland started brightly, obviously stung by the lacklustre nature of the Russia display, and looked like there was going to be a contest against the top-ranked team in the world.

It was all Scotland, rushing about, putting in tackles, winning 50-50s, forcing Belgium i nto mistakes and generally looking a pretty decent outfit – for nine minutes anyway.

Scotland won a corner and Robert Snodgrass swung in a testing cross – from there the difference in levels told.

Dries Mertens, not as household a name as Kevin De Bruyne or Romelu Lukaku but every bit top class, opened up the Scots with one pass.

In club football in Italy, Mertens would surely have been stopped by any means necessary before he caused any damage on the break but Kilmarnock’s Stephen O’Donnell allowed the pass forward.

Off went De Bruyne with only Andy Robertson to beat and Lukaku in support.

Perfectly timed, perfectly weighted – the pass was sublime and the big striker made no mistake.

Belgium hadn’t had a kick but their class had told.

That class had the points wrapped up within 32 minutes of the contest, though with plenty help from some dozy home defending.

Just after the 20 minute-mark, Belgium this time had a corner and caught Scotland sleeping by taking it short.

Also nodding off in the area was Kenny McLean as he let former Arsenal and Barcelona man Thomas Vermaelen ghost in at the back post.

Shortly afterward, the match was heading into embarrassing territory for Scotland as Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld beat Charlie Mulgrew in the air and sent his header off the bar and into the net.

There was some face-saving in the second half from Steve Clarke’s men as the score was kept respectable, even if the Belgians still added a fourth through the i mperious De Bruyne’s sweeping finish with eight minutes remaining.

That didn’t disguise the fact that teams like Belgium and the other top countries in the world now treat Scotland the same as San Marino – easily beatable, home and away.

That is the mammoth job on Clarke’s hands over the next few months, to rediscover the old Scotland spirit that made Hampden a testing venue for anybody.

Right now, it’s easy pickings.

Started well and tried to set the tone for Scotland but up against a top-class side.