Real Madrid midfielder Eden Hazard has announced his international retirement.
Hazard has decided to end his time with Belgium after their World Cup flop.
The former Chelsea captain posted to social media: “A chapter ends today.
“Thank you for your love and incomparable support. Thank you for all the joy we have shared since 2018.
“I decided to stop my national team career. The heirs are ready. I will miss you.”
Edge players reached 126 national matches for Belgium with 33 goals.
Real Madrid have revealed it will not re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in January.
Ronaldo seems to have run into trouble after granting an interview with Piers Morgan making some uncomplimentary statements about Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are now exploring the possibility of terminating Ronaldo’s deal but the 37-year-old said in the interview that he does not really care, insisting that the fans should know the truth.
Now his former club, Real Madrid have turned down the opportunity to re-sign him in the summer transfer window when they were approached by the forward’s agent, Jorge Mendes.
Marca reports that the La Liga giants have adopted the same stance ahead of the January window as they have no interest in signing Ronaldo for a second time.
Ronaldo was reported to be heading back to Real Madrid to provide cover for Karim Benzema, who was injured with France in training in Qatar.
Similarly, Italian side AS Roma under the tutelage of Ronaldo’s country man Jose Mourinho has also said they are not interested in bringing the Portuguese to Rome. in January.
Real Madrid French forward, Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the World Cup following the injury he sustained in training on Saturday in Doha.
This was contained in a release by the Nigeria Football Federation.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner felt a strong pain in his thigh during a sprint toward the end of the training session.
After undergoing an MRI, it was confirmed that Benzema had suffered a muscle tear that would need three weeks of recovery time.
This will be the first time since 1978 that the reigning Balon d or winner will not feature due to injury.
France begin the defence of the World Cup title they won in 2018 when taking on Australia on Tuesday. Per FIFA rules, they will have until 24 hours before their first game to name a replacement to their squad.
France’s other forward options in their squad include 2018 star Kylian Mbappe as well Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Marcus Thuram and Ousmane Dembele.
“I am extremely sad for Karim, who had made this World Cup a major objective,” coach Didier Deschamps said in a statement. “Despite this new blow for the French team, I have full confidence in my group. We will do everything to meet the huge challenge that awaits us.”
Benzema also addressed his withdrawal in an Instagram post.
“I’ve never given up in my life but tonight I have to think of the team, as I have always done,” he said. “So reason tells me to give my place to someone who can help our squad have a great World Cup. Thanks for all your messages of support.”
France’s preparations in Qatar had already been hit by the injury withdrawals of RB Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku and Paris Saint-Germain centre back Presnel Kimpembe.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani and Monaco’s Axel Disasi were named as replacements.
Belgian international, Eden Hazard has apologized to his fans for failing to make his mark at Spanish side Real Madrid.
Hazard, 31 — who is currently with Belgium preparing for the World Cup in Qatar — joined Madrid in a high-profile move from Chelsea in 2019 for an initial €100 million but has since endured an injury-hit three years at the Bernabeu.
Hazard has been available for selection just three times this season making three appearances for Real Madrid this season from which he played as a substitute on two occasions.
The winger’s ppreferredleft wing is being competed with VViniciusJunior.
Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti prefers to use the Brazilian in that position and that has condemned Hazard to the bench.
“I’m sorry. I’m trying, but … I’m sorry,” Hazard told Marca in an interview published on Wednesday. “I have one more year and I have to show [what I can do] but it isn’t easy. I’m not playing, I want to play more. I’m rorry about what has happened.”
Hazard’s contract at Real Madrid is due to expire in June 2024, but his lack of game time has led to speculation that he could leave during the upcoming January transfer window.
“In January it’s impossible, because I have my family and I like the city,” he said. “But in the summer it’s possible that I leave. I have a year left on my contract and it’s a decision for the club. If the club says ‘Eden, thanks for these four years, but you have to ggoI’ll have to accept it.”
Hazard left Chelsea in 2019 as one of the Premier League’s best players but his first season in Madrid was marred by an ankle fracture which eventually required surgery and the insertion of a metal plate in March 2020, which led to further, ongoing problems before its removal two years later.
“The first [injury] was after playing against Paris Saint-Germain and the second came almost three months later,” Hazard told Marca. “They were two fractures… [The next problem] was different, because it was an infection with the metal plate.
“I wanted to have an operation sooner … but the club said ‘It’s impossible, you have to stay calm, we’ve spoken to the doctors, it’s not a problem with the plate.’ But the third year it was the same: injury, injury … I’m not saying it was the fault of the club, the doctor, or the operation; I want to say it was many things.”
In May this year, Hazard told fans during Madrid’s Champions League winning celebrations that he would “give everything” to make an impact this season, but his opportunities have again been limited.
“[I’d give myself] a zero in terms of playing, because I haven’t played,” he said when asked to grade his time at Madrid. “But a 10 in terms of how I feel at iatthis moment with the team. I’m not playing, but being a Real Madrid player was my dream as a kid. I want to play for this club.
Speculations are rife that the Belgian forward could be heading to English Premier League side Aston Villa in the summer transfer window in 2023.
Real Madrid attacker Eden Hazard says he’ll leave the La Liga side only if the club asks him to.
Although the 31-year-old is firmly focused on delivering for Belgium at the World Cup in Qatar, his future with Los Blancos remains a huge talking point.
With just six appearances to his name so far this season, Hazard admits he would be open to a move away from the Spanish giants if he was asked to leave.
He said, “When I don’t play it’s difficult, but if I play, of course. Soccer is my life and I just want to play.
“It’s hard because I don’t play much, but there are good people and that’s what I want, to train and play with them. If I can help, all the better, but at the moment I can’t. I will try to give it my all.”
Asked if he could leave in January, Hazard stated: “In January it is impossible, because I have family and I like the city. But in summer it is possible that I could leave. I have one more year on my contract and it is the club’s decision.
“If the club tells me ‘Eden, thanks for the four years, but you have to go’, I have to accept it because it is normal. But I would like to play more, to show that I can play, that I am a good player.”
Real Madrid defender Toni Rudiger admits he had several options before leaving Chelsea this summer.
Rudiger joined Real Madrid in a Bosman transfer at the end of last season.
He recalled to AS: “Of course, I was approached by many teams, but I considered only two options – Chelsea and Real Madrid.
“I spent five years in London and had a certain status. I could stay there or move to Real Madrid. Barcelona were also interested in my services.
“But for me it was impossible. I have already said that Real Madrid was a dream for me, this team seemed unattainable to me.”
Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti has given reasons why the Galacticos lost 3-2 to Rayo Vallecano in Monday’s LaLiga encounter.
Ancelotti explained that Real Madrid lost the encounter because many players were not available for selection due to injuries and other factors, saying they lack the capacity to draw the match.
The former Chelsea and Everton coach watched as Vallecano defeated his team at the Estadio de Vallecas, following goals from Santi Comesana, Alvaro Garcia Rivera, and Oscar Trejo.
Eder Militao and old war horse Luka Modric scored Madrid’s two goals in the encounter.
Speaking at his post-match press conference after the game, Ancelotti said: “We needed to be a bit tougher. We had trouble playing out from the back. We could’ve played more direct balls forward and we lost a few individual duels.
“The quality was lacking a bit for us to draw the game. We had chances to score that we would put away normally and we were a bit below par in terms of toughness.”
There is going to be a repeat of last season’s final in the round of 16 as Liverpool were drawn against Champions Real Madrid, while on-form Serie A side Napoli will trade tackles with last year’s Europa winner Eintracht: Frankfurt of Germany.
Teams from the same countries cannot face each other, and clubs cannot face opponents they met during the group stage.
Group winners got seeded, while the runners-up were unseeded.
Ties will be played over two legs, with seeded teams at home in the second leg.
The first legs are scheduled for 14/15/21/22 February, with the second legs on 7/8/14/15 March.
UEFA Draws Below
Liverpool vs Real Madrid
Inter Milan vs Porto
Dortmund Vs Chelsea
Manchester City vs Leipzig
Club Brugge vs Benfica
PSG vs Bayern
AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspurs
Frankfurt vs Napoli
Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has revealed he will return to coaching soon.
Zidane has remained out of football since leaving Real at the end of the season 2020/21 season.
“When will you see me on a bench again? Soon soon. I’m not far from doing it again,” declared Zidane.
Zidane assured that right now he is “enjoying” his life away from the bench, but he also added that he is not “far” from returning to work as a coach.
Belgium and Real Madrid playmaker, Eden Hazard is set to be off-loaded by Real Madrid in the January transfer window come 2023.
The president of the clubside, Florentino Perez is desperate to offload Hazard in the January transfer window or at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Serie A giants Juventus are already showing a keen interest in the player.
Juventus have struggled so far in this new season and now see Hazard as a player who can help transform the Serie A side.
This is according to a Spanish tabloid Diario Gol.
Hazard moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 from Chelsea.
But his stay at the Santiago Bernabeu has been plagued with injuries and totally disappointing.
The Belgium international has only made 71 appearances for Real Madrid across competitions and has been plagued by injury issues.
The 31-year-old has scored just seven times and provided 11 assists for Los Blancos since joining the LaLiga champions.
None of the aforementioned numbers is impressive, particularly given Real Madrid paid a transfer fee of £150million to sign Hazard.
Another report has also linked him back to the English Premier League with many clubsides showing interest in him.