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  Eden, a Hazard for hapless Hungary

Eden, a Hazard for hapless Hungary

AFP
Published : Jun 28, 2016, 12:23 am IST
Updated : Jun 28, 2016, 12:23 am IST

Chelsea star Eden Hazard said Belgium are hoping to keep the Euro 2016 party going with a win over Wales in Lille on Friday but said their 4-0 rout of Hungary will be hard to beat.

Eden Hazard of Belgium celebrates his goal against Hungary.
 Eden Hazard of Belgium celebrates his goal against Hungary.

Chelsea star Eden Hazard said Belgium are hoping to keep the Euro 2016 party going with a win over Wales in Lille on Friday but said their 4-0 rout of Hungary will be hard to beat.

In an impressive man-of-the-match performance Hazard hit his maiden goal of the tournament as the Red Devils proved far too hot to handle for an outclassed Hungary side.

Hazard can’t wait to play in Lille, a northern French city close to the Belgian border where he starred for four seasons before moving to England.

But he said: “Doing better than tonight would be difficult, I think. Everything was almost perfect. We scored goals, we created a lot of chances, we helped Thibaut (Courtois) keep a clean sheet.

“All in all it was a great night, but we made it easy for ourselves. We created a lot of chances from the start. In the second half we killed off the match. To do better will be hard. But we’ll try.”

Going on this performance, Belgium will fancy their chances although Hazard admitted their next opponent Wales, and their Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale, could be “complicated”.

“They’re a complicated side to play against. We played them in the qualifiers, we haven’t beaten them I don’t think,” he added.

“They’re quite a compact side with a star player up front (Bale) so we’re going to have to study them well and try to do our best to win this match.”

Coach Marc Wilmots was cautious. “We’re into the quarterfinals, but we’ve done nothing yet,” said the Belgian, who will be without defender Thomas Vermaelen after he picked up a yellow card to trigger a one-match suspension.

Location: France, Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse