Eden Hazard was more than happy to have returned to competitive football with a goal as Belgium thrashed Gibraltar 9-0 in Thursday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier.
Hazard had not played a competitive football since breaking an ankle while on international duty in June but was captain of his national team and played all but the last 13 minutes of his nation’s huge win in Liege before being replaced by his younger brother, Thorgan.
Coach Roberto Martinez now faces a selection dilemma whether or not to include the Chelsea star in his lineup for Sunday’s game in Greece.
“I’m happy to have returned to the pitch for a competitive game,” Hazard told RTBF. “I was a little worried during the first five minutes, but I felt good after that. I’m happy.
“I think I’m ready to play Greece, but they’re certainly going to kick me, so it’s not ideal. The coach will decide. I just want to play football.”
“The whole squad was focused on this game, right to the end,” Hazard added. “We wanted to beat the record score — we said that at half-time — but we couldn’t do it unfortunately.
“We know it’ll be difficult against Greece, but we’re going there to win. The supporters made a lot of noise, we played in a legendary stadium. It’s for the fans that we play and now everyone is happy.”
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