How much of a threat are Belarus to Scotland?

"As Scotland were doughtily battling their way to a point in Copenhagen on Friday, Belarus were learning just how tasty this current Greece side are, as goals flew past Pavel Pavlyuchenko, ending the game as a contest after 21 minutes. The one solace for Belarus was that they stemmed the tide in the second half and grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot through German Barkovskiy."

"And so as the countries make their way to the Hungarian town of Zalaegerszeg for the fifth meeting between the two countries, the question is 'how much of a threat do the Belarussians pose to Scotland's chances of World Cup qualification?' In theory, the answer should be 'not much', looking at the relative strength of each squad and the level at which the respective sets of players ply their trade."

Scotland drew in Copenhagen while Belarus suffered a heavy early defeat to Greece, conceding multiple goals inside 21 minutes before salvaging a penalty consolation. The teams meet in Zalaegerszeg for their fifth encounter, raising questions about Belarus's threat to Scotland's World Cup qualification. Belarus lack the high-profile talents of past eras such as Aleksandr Hleb and Vitaly Kutusov, though they still possess capable players like Valeriy Gromyko and Aleksandr Martynovich. Scotland's manager Steve Clarke intends to respect Belarus, who have struggled playing home matches at neutral, behind-closed-door venues and have few competitive wins under those conditions.

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