World Cup – Belgium – Hazard and the meeting of the Belgians: “We said things to each other, good ones, less good ones…”

Hazard, as a good captain, did not try to minimize the impact of the defeat against Morocco (2-0) on Sunday, which brought to light real dissension among the Red Devils. But he denies any break in this Belgian group. “He said a lot of nonsense, we said a lot of thingshe explained, asked about a supposedly very agitated post-match in the locker room before confirming that a crisis discussion had taken place in recent hours. There was a meeting between all the players“.

A meeting “to be honest”

Arrived a few minutes later at a press conference, Thibaut Courtois also minimized the scope of the tensions. “He nothing happened, everyone was disappointed after the losshe says. The manager spoke. There are too many lies out there with social media. The created situation does not exist.” The fact remains that the meeting between the players had the merit of dispelling the incipient discomforts of listening to them.

What did he say? “We said things to each other, some good ones and some bad ones. Maybe some things that didn’t please but we talked“, explains Hazard again.”The main problem now is to see what is happening in the newspapers and on social networks. Sometimes you can read things that a teammate didn’t say. So it was nice to have a reunion to be honest“, completed Courtois.

In recent months, small sentences or good words have been able to flourish on the part of certain players, in particular the supposed slowness of the Belgian defenders. This meeting would have had the merit of bursting the abscess. “The players knowing me, they know how I amHazard explained. When I told Jan Vertonghen that he wasn’t very fast anymore, he came to see me, we talked. And he said, ‘yes it’s true you’re right’. I take a lot of things for fun but when it comes to being serious, I’m serious“. All before denying, firmly but with a smile, any fight between the two: “There was nothing in the locker room after Morocco, we didn’t fight with Jan Vertonghen. I would never dare to fight with Jan, he is bigger than me !”.

The case of Bruyne? “He is the first to have confidence in this group”

So, facing Croatia, another “slightly aging team“, the Belgians have promised one thing: to defend their honor and give everything to qualify for the round of 16. So that this golden generation does not leave definitively with a taste of waste. “Given what was said yesterday in the meeting, we will have 26 warriors on Thursday!“, affirmed Hazard. Words, while waiting for deeds.