The legendary Juan Roman Riquelme of Argentina has been cited by Eden Hazard, the captain of Belgium, as the best number 10 to ever play the position.

Footballer Riquelme, who is regarded as one of the best Argentine players of all time, is Hazard’s idol, and he expressed the hope that one day he will be able to meet him.

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The Real Madrid player was speaking after Belgium’s 1-0 victory against Canada at the World Cup on Wednesday.

Recall that Belgium defeated Canada in their FIFA World Cup opener, thanks to Michy Batshuayi’s first-half goal.

“He’s an idol, the best number 10 I have ever seen play.

“I have not met him and I hope one day it can happen. Players like Riquelme can play in today’s football,” Hazard, a former Chelsea ace, told Diario Ole.

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Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that his passionate argument with Toby Alderweireld after Belgium’s 1-0 win over Canada in their World Cup opener was over the team’s style of play.

Michy Batshuayi scored the only goal of the game in the first half while Thibaut Courtois was forced to come to Belgium’s rescue as he saved Alfonso Davies’ penalty.

Canada, however, was the superior team for the majority of the match and De Bruyne admits he was unhappy with Belgium’s tendency to favour the long ball.

‘It was not good,’ De Bruyne told Sporza.

‘I thought we had the wrong way of building up in the first half, we didn’t find the space while the space was there. We adjusted that during the break, after which it was slightly better. Although it was still not good enough as a team.

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‘That was also what my discussion with Alderweireld was about. I think there was more space than was seen and I thought we were looking for the long ball too much while there was room to get through.

‘Anyway, some discussion about the way of playing is no problem. We do know what needs to change.

‘In the end, this [the performance] wasn’t the most important thing either.

We weren’t good enough, but the fighting spirit was good. That’s something we’ve always had, but also a minimum requirement. If it doesn’t work, you can still win. We need to learn from this and also be realistic. It has to be better, including myself.’

When asked about the row, Alderweireld said: ‘That is pure football, that is emotions.

‘We are not here to treat each other like choirboys, we are here as men. Kevin had something and I disagreed.

‘That is emotion and shows that we are working on it. The buttons turned very quickly and that was just over between Kevin and me. We are more than okay.’

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Following the conclusion of the third matchday of the UEFA Europa League group stage on Thursday, the top scorers and assists in the competition are listed below.

PSV’s Cody Gakpo is currently the joint-top scorer in the Europa League, alongside Feyenoord’s Santiago Giménez.

Gakpo scored a brace in his side’s 5-1 win over FC Zurich on Thursday to take his goal tally to three so far.

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See the list below:

Top scorers in the 2022/2023 Europa League so far:

3 goals – Santiago Giménez (Feyenoord) and Cody Gakpo (PSV).

2 gaols –Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Luiz Henrique (Betis), Tokmac Nguen (Ferencváros), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Kwabwena Owusu (Qarabağ), Marcus Rashford (Man United), Martin Terrier (Rennes), Matías Vecino (Lazio), Michy Batshuayi (Fenerbahçe), Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Michael Gregoritsch (Freiburg), Gustav Isaksen (Midtjylland), Guélor Kanga (Crvena zvezda), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Gustaf Nilsson (St Gilloise), Viktor Tsygankov (Dynamo Kyiv), Yorbe Vertessen (PSV), Marko Vešović (Qarabağ) and Willian José (Betis) .

Most assists in 2022/2023 Europa League:

4 assists – Evander (Midtjylland)
3 assists – Diego Rossi (Fenerbahçe)
2 assists – Kady (Qarabağ), Ludovic Blas (Nantes), Cauly (Ludogorets), Juan Miranda (Real Betis), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Anastasios Bakasetas (Trabzonspor), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Kamaldeen Sulemana (Rennes), Oussama Idrissi (Feyenoord), Breel Embolo (Monaco) and Simon Adingra (St Gilloise).

The Europa League group stage match-day four will commence next week.

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