Belgium’s Hazard shines in victory over Costa Rica
BRUSSELS: Striker Romelu Lukaku scored twice while captain Eden Hazard was in blistering form as Belgium completed their preparations for the World Cup with a resounding 4-1 victory over Costa Rica.
Also on target were Dries Mertens and Michy Batshuayi after the visitors had taken a surprise 1-0 lead.
Hazard constantly propelled the Belgian side towards the 16-yard box was instrumental in all of the hosts’ goals.
Hazard, Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne will be hoping for redemption during the June 14-July 15 tournament in Russia after being knocked out in the quarter-finals at both the last World Cup in Brazil and from Euro 2016 in France.
Belgium start their World Cup campaign next Monday against Panama in Sochi before facing Tunisia and England in Group G.
On Monday, the hosts piled on the pressure from the start but failed to capitalise on their early chances. Their defence, missing injured veteran Vincent Kompany, looked shaky on the rare occasions it was tested.
Much against the run of play, Costa Rican captain Bryan Ruiz put the visitors ahead in the 24th minute after calmly latching on to Jan Vertonghen’s poorly cleared header.
That spurred the Belgians into action as Mertens equalised seven minutes later by netting a neat pass from Hazard.
Just before halftime, Belgium’s top scorer Lukaku put his side in the lead following a cross from Mertens.
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said he was encouraged to see how his team reacted after going a goal down.
Martinez says there is ”nothing to worry about” regarding playmaker Eden Hazard’s fitness after the Belgium skipper limped out of the match.
Hazard was substituted with a dead leg in the 70th minute of Belgium’s 4-1 win in Brussels on Monday but Martinez expects the player to be fit for the start of their campaign in Russia.
“Eden is okay, he had a little trouble, but it’s nothing to worry about,” the manager told reporters. ”I really enjoyed his performance. He was sharp and strong, he was majestic.
“At the end, he just came off because he had a little bit of a dead leg, a little bit of a knock on his leg.” Belgium are heading into the tournament on a 19-match unbeaten run and will face Panama in their Group G opener on Monday. Tunisia and England are the other teams in the pool.
■ GROEDIG (Austria): Senegal scored two second-half goals to beat fellow World Cup contender South Korea 2-0 and end a fourmatch winless streak on Monday in their final warm-up.
South Korea defender Kim Young-gwon deflected an effort by Alfred N’Diaye into his own goal in the 67th minute, and striker Moussa Konate added the second from the penalty spot in injury time to give Senegal their first win since beating South Africa in November.
Senegal open their World Cup campaign against Poland next Tuesday before taking on Japan and Colombia in Group H.
South Korea, which have scored only once in their last three warm-ups, will play Sweden, Mexico and Germany in Group F.