Belgian star Eden Hazard announced his retirement from international football after failing to qualify for the World Cup final in Qatar, according to what he announced Wednesday on his Instagram account.
Sharjah 24 – Asaad Khalil:
Belgian star Eden Hazard decided to put an end to his career with the national team after failing to qualify for the Qatar World Cup final, according to what he announced Wednesday on his Instagram account.
The 31-year-old Real Madrid player said, “Today, I have turned a page… Thank you for your love. Thank you for your unparalleled support. Thank you for all the happiness you have shared with me since 2008. I have decided to end my international career. I will miss you.” .
Hazard was a Yemeni who led his country at least to repeat the achievement of 2018 when it reached the semi-finals, but the fall against Morocco with a clean double in the second round of Group G competitions, and then a goalless draw with Croatia in the final round ended the “Red Devils” career at the first round.
Hazard’s retirement marks the first stop at the end of the golden generation, which also lost its Spanish coach, Roberto Martinez, after he decided to leave and not renew the contract after the end of the group stage of the Qatar World Cup.
4 years ago, Belgium’s golden generation was in its prime and was placed at the top of the list of candidates to win the first world title in the country’s history, but the journey did not reach its end and stopped at the round of four at the hands of France, who later won the title.
Hazard and his cohorts entered the Qatar World Cup knowing it was their last chance to try to live up to their reputation among the continent’s best players.
But Morocco did what it did and dropped the men of coach Martinez, which made them required to win in the last round against Croatia, but this did not happen, so they settled for a draw and the campaign ended.
Immediately after the end of the match, in which Romelu Lukaku wasted two golden chances in the last seconds to snatch the qualification card, Martinez announced that he would leave the position he had held in 2016.
“This match was my last game with the national team,” he said emotionally. “It’s time for me to step down.”
Captain Hazard joined him on Wednesday, ending a career he began in 2008 when he was 17 years and 316 days old, on his way to play 126 matches, during which he scored 33 goals.
Hazard was counting on the Qatari World Cup to relaunch his career, which had been disrupted since his move to Real Madrid in 2019 from Chelsea due to the large number of injuries.