Eden Hazard has regained the smile with Belgium And you can see it. Roberto Martnez has given him a ‘bubble’ in which to isolate himself from the ‘ordeal’ with the injuries he has experienced in his two seasons in the Real Madrid. He is his captain and he ‘pampers’ him. With a clear objective, that is: to get him to be able to play 90 ‘in this Euro at a good level.
“I look very confident to get Hazard back to the fullest. He is our captain and has a great influence. Also, he does not depend on a great physical form to make a difference. If it is ok, it will have an important role“, recognized the selector of the ‘red devils’ in MARCA before the start of the championship.
The recovery, slow but progressive, is on the right track. Hazard missed the friendly against Greece (1-1) and reappeared playing the last 8 ‘in the victory against Croatia (1-0). It thus put an end to more than a year and a half -from the ‘set’ that they endorsed Cyprus (6-1) in November 2019- without playing for Belgium. Twelve games have been lost along the way.
The reasons to return to ‘get excited’ with Hazard came in the debut of the ‘red devils’ in the Euro. The madridista replaced Mertens in the victory against Russia (3-0) and in just 18 ‘he showed the best of his repertoire. Encar, was participatory, associated well … The numbers speak for themselves. Only Carrasco, who played 77 ‘, completed more dribbles (5 of 12) than Hazard (3 of 4) in Belgium. In addition, he won four of the five games in which he was involved, came into contact with the ball 18 times and had a 72.2% success rate on the pass.
It was far, yes, from the record that established in 2016 against Hungary. Hazard is, according to ‘Opta’, the player who has dribbled the most (12) in a Euro match since 1980, when they began to collate this type of data.
In any case, Roberto Martnez is positive and, after the win over Russia, he will be able to afford the ‘license’ to line him up as a starter against Denmark. It remains to be seen. “I feel like Eden is ready to play more, although I don’t think to play the 90 ‘. Therefore, it will be necessary to decide if he plays at the beginning or at the end. The next step is that Hazard has more minutes than against Russia and that he plays the maximum possible in the third game against Finland, “says the former Swansea, Wigan and Everton coach.
‘Bob’ was delighted with the Madridista’s debut. “I saw Hazard play Hazard, especially with his intuitive movements, his rotations. It is the first time I have seen him play with such freedom in a long time. It is a big step forward for him,” he said. The ‘Operation 90 Minutes’ is underway.