Waseige, under mounting pressure to at least reach the second round in South Korea and Japan, says Belgium are only playing Norway after first choice Uruguay opted out and agreed to play South Korea instead.

'We will make experiments on the way to the finals...testing different combinations,' Waseige said on Tuesday.

The Belgians have not played since November, when they beat the Czech Republic 1-0 to wrap-up an aggregate victory over them in the playoffs. They have an unbeaten record against the Norwegians, with three wins and two draws.

Waseige said he would have preferred a South American test as Belgium have faced a string of European opponents since his appointment in 1999. Uruguay chose instead to play South Korea.

Almost spoilt for choice in attack, Waseige needs to narrow down choices including veteran Marc Wilmots, Wesley Sonck and Gert Verheyen. Another striker, Emile Mpenza, has dropped out of the squad due to injury.

Waseige has also included midfielder Stefaan Tanghe, of Dutch club Utrecht, who has not played for Belgium since 1999, in the squad to fill injury gaps.

Norway, who failed to qualify for the World Cup finals, are bringing a line-up of foreign-based players to Brussels.

Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Rangers' Tore Andre Flo are expected to spearhead the team up front.

CREATIVE NORWEGIANS?

'They are a more creative side than the one we last met,' Waseige said referring to Belgium's 2-0 victory in Oslo two years ago. 'Their defense is like a block - they are never easy to beat.'

Norwegian coach Nils Johan Semb is striving to rebuild a team whose success in the 1990s, when they reached the World Cup in 1994 and 1998 after failing to do so since 1938, has fizzled since Euro 2000.

Semb is also bringing Valencia striker John Carew, who scored his first goal of the season last week. While Solskjaer has reveled in his role of super-sub at Manchester United, scoring almost every time he comes off the bench, Flo and Carew have often sat out club games this season.

And Norwegian-based players are rusty since the 2001 soccer season ended in October - snow makes pitches unplayable until April.

Waseige believes that about 12-15 of his 18-strong squad are likely to make it to Japan in May, where Belgium face co-hosts Japan, Russia and Tunisia.