Coach happy with Hazard’s fitness

THERE is nothing to worry about regarding playmaker Eden Hazard’s fitness after the Belgium skipper limped out of their final World Cup warm-up match against Costa Rica, coach Roberto Martinez said.

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 said.

“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 head into the tournament on a 19-match unbeaten run and will face Panama in their Group G opener on Monday. – Reuters