Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BELGIUM HAZARD: OUR GOLDEN GENERATION IS BETTER THAN YOURS
Eden has high hopes for Belgium and can’t resist a dig at England
EDEN HAZARD has handed Group G rivals England a World Cup warning.
And the Chelsea and Belgium playmaker could not resist a dig at the Three Lions’ ‘Golden Generation’ who failed to win a major trophy.
Hazard dazzled in a 3-0 win over Egypt on Wednesday for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch, despite some brutal treatment.
And the 27-year-old is just one of a much-fancied side that appear to be reaching the peak of their powers for
Russia.
England’s much-hyped squad of the Noughties, including Michael Owen (right), Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes, were saddled with the ‘golden’ tag.
But there was to be no silverware at World Cups or European Championships.
And Hazard knows his country expects this year, with their world No.3-ranked team packed with superstars from the Premier League and elsewhere. He may not yet have nailed his colours to the mast at Stamford Bridge for next season – with speculation he could be lured away by Real Madrid or Paris Saintgermain – but when it comes to Belgium, who are drawn with England, Tunisia and Panama, there is no doubt what he wants.
Hazard said: “We know what we are. We are good players, we all play in the big games in England, Italy and Spain, so we know what to do.
“The golden generation thing – you have, 10 years or 15 years ago, this same golden generation in England, but you won nothing.
“Now I think the fans, journalists, all of Belgium, the country just want to win something. We have a golden generation, we just want to win something now.
“Maybe we can be different to England – we will see. Of course we are very excited about the World Cup, like always.
“We start the first game in 10 days, so we just want to be there and playing. We are in preparation, but we will be ready for the World Cup when it starts.”