Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard believes their highly-rated squad can cope with the weight of expectation being heaped on them ahead of this year’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
“We have a lot of players who can deal with the pressure. We have young players too. We are used to performing at a high level under pressure,” he told reporters on Tuesday as the squad prepared to take on Ivory Coast in a friendly international.
With a sparkling array of talent plying their trade in the English Premier League, including Chelsea’s Hazard, Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, Everton’s on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku, Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen and Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini, Belgium are dark horses to win the World Cup.
The draw was relatively kind to them too with Algeria, Russia and South Korea alongside them in Group H.
“We are not the favourites for the World Cup but we are the favourites for the group,” Hazard told a news conference. “But we have to deal with that and make sure that we qualify.”
Kompany, fresh from lifting the League Cup for Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, said the favourites would be the usual suspects but Belgium would be dangerous floaters.
“In reality, who are the favourites? They’re Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain,” he said. “Everybody knows that. They are the favourites, but apart from them, there is a group of teams that can be dangerous.
“We are amongst those teams that can be dangerous. I don’t think that we will win the World Cup only with talent.”
Belgium reached their first World Cup finals since 2002 after comfotably winning their qualifying group with eight wins and two draws from their 10 games.
Hazard is also disputing Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s assertion that the attacking midfielder is due a rest, the 23-year-old insisting that he plays consistently better when fed a steady diet of action.
“I don’t need rest, as I’ve said before, I’m at my best if I can play a lot of matches. But I must be aware that I don’t let myself burn out,” he told the country’s daily Het Laatste Nieuws in an interview published on Wednesday.
“I’m in a good rhythm, I’m getting a lot of game time. I did feel a little down in the first half against Fulham but it went much better in the second half,” he said of Saturday’s 3-1 win in the London derby which saw Chelsea move four points clear at the top of the Premier league.
Before the match, Mourinho had told reporters he was hoping Hazard would not play in the midweek international.
“He needs a rest,” the Chelsea manager said last Friday.
“It’d be perfect if his national coach did not play him.
“He can not have a rest in the club. In the national team he doesn’t have to play friendly matches.
“He needs a rest and they could give him a rest. It’s important for us and I prefer him on the pitch even if he’s tired because I know he can produce things.”
Hazard would not start for Belgium against the Ivorians but was expecting to come on from the bench, he said.
“I spoke to the coach (Marc Wilmots) about it and we will see how long I will play. He understands the situation, he’s not stupid. He knows I’m playing a lot.”
Hazard told the Belgian daily he was in the best form of his career.
“That shows in the statistics and in the succession of matches in which I’ve played well. In my last season at Lille, I also had a good run, similar to now. I hope it will continue and that I will profit with both Belgium as well as Chelsea.”
Hazard said his relationship with Mourinho was also going well.
“I find we have a normal relationship. If there are things to be said, he says them. If you are playing well, he says so. But if you are not, you also get to hear about it,” he added.
“I prefer it if people say things to my face. He might be called the ‘Special One’ but to me he is the ‘Normal One’.”
