Following Belgium’s incredibly disappointing World Cup campaign, which saw the Red Devils knocked out in the group stages, there was two main personnel exits from the squad.
The first was Roberto Martinez, who resigned as head coach following their elimination in Qatar. The Spaniard had previously been in charge for 6 years, having been appointed in 2016.
The second casualty of Belgium’s disastrous campaign was Eden Hazard. Having amassed 126 caps and 33 goals in his international career, the Real Madrid announced surprisingly his retirement at the age of just 31.
Speaking of Hazard, his former boss Martinez, who has been linked with a return to management recently, was full of praised for Hazard on the back on his announcement to retire from international football, as per Diario AS.
“He was an incredible player for the Red Devils, we should appreciate that. There were already big names above the number 10 on the jerseys, but he has written stories with golden letters in his position. Everything about him has made the national team a better institution.”
Martinez also seemed to rebuff any idea of Hazard coming out of retirement despite being in his early thirties.
“Nope (he won’t return). He could always come back for a specific competition, a European Championship or a World Cup, but Eden is a team player. I don’t think he’ll come back for a tournament that he didn’t qualify for on the field, because then it would also hinder someone who did help the team qualify.”
Hazard will be in action for Real Madrid this week when they travel to face Cacereno in Copa del Rey on Tuesday, as was confirmed by Carlo Ancelotti.
