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Hazard & Courtois respond to Belgium bust-up ‘lies’ & reports of rift in Martinez’s camp.
Following rumours of a fight and divisions among the Belgium 2022 World Cup team, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have retaliated against the “lies” being disseminated.
There have reportedly been arguments in the locker room among Roberto Martinez’s players, and according to RTL, Romelu Lukaku had to intervene as tempers were about to flare after a shocking 2-0 loss to Morocco.
Along with seasoned internationals Kevin De Bruyne and Jan Vertonghen, Hazard was allegedly involved in the altercation, but the Real Madrid striker claims that there was only a post-game talk between disgruntled team members.
Hazard has said: “We had a good talk among the players. A lot has been said. We talked for an hour about good things and less good things. Now we want to win against Croatia. We now have two days to prepare.
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We have to be ready. Nothing happened in the dressing room. Only the coach spoke. I spoke to Kevin De Bruyne, he does believe in the group.”
De Bruyne has suggested that Belgium’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ are now “too old” to compete for a World Cup crown, with those comments said to have contributed to rifts forming.
Belgium goalkeeper Courtois is, however, another to have rubbished the conflict claims, with the Real Madrid shot-stopper saying: “The problem is that too many lies are spread. A situation is described that doesn’t exist. As a group, we need to avoid that negativity. Everything was clarified yesterday. Everyone has openly expressed their opinion. Now we have to take action on the field. It’s good that we had a group conversation. We said what we thought to each other. We have to be honest with each other and fight for each other on the pitch.”
After earning three points from their first two Group F games, Belgium is now angling for a spot in the round of 16 in the Qatar 2022 tournament and is aware that they must defeat Croatia on Thursday to do so.