Tag: eden michael hazard

[ad_1] Belgium star Eden Hazard announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday, days after the team crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage. The Real Madrid forward, 31, made the announcement on social media, saying "a page turns today". "Thank you for your unparalleled support," he posted on Instagram. "Thank you for all this happiness shared since 2008. I have decided to put an end to my international career. The succession is ready. I will miss you."The Belgium team tweeted: "All the best, captain."Hazard, who played as an attacking midfielder or winger, made his Belgium debut in 2008 as a teenager and collected a total of 126 caps, scoring 33 goals.He was the standard-bearer of Belgium's much-vaunted "golden generation", which reached the semi-finals at the...

[ad_1] Eden Hazard admitted Saturday that Belgium's best chance to win the World Cup had come and gone but said they still have the quality and experience to lift the trophy in Qatar. Belgium, who finished third at the tournament in Russia in 2018, are still ranked second in the world but many of the much-vaunted "Golden Generation" are now in their 30s. "To be fair I think we had a better chance to win four years go," admitted 31-year-old Hazard."The team was better four years ago but still we have the quality to win games and to win the competition. We have a few guys, they are a bit older now but we have experience and the best goalkeeper in the world (Thibaut Courtois)."We have one of the best midfields in the world, right now. We have good strikers. We have the team and I think it's...

[ad_1] Belgium are not expecting captain Eden Hazard to sparkle in the early stages of the World Cup after hardly featuring for Real Madrid this season, wing-back Timothy Castagne said on Saturday. Forward Hazard, 31, has had a frustrating injury-plagued three years in the Spanish capital that has seen him fail to live up to his star billing after a glorious seven years at Chelsea. He has struggled to hold down a first team place or find his best form and has started only two Real matches this season despite starting six of Belgium's seven matches since the end of last season.And Leicester City wing-back Castagne says fans should not expect too much of the mercurial talent, at the beginning at least."For Belgium, the fans would like to rediscover the Eden of a few years ago," sad Castagn...