After the win against Finland, Roberto Martinez made an encouraging admission about Eden Hazard in terms of his injury recovery.
Even though Eden Hazard recently stated he believes his ankle will never be the same again, Roberto Martinez had a different experience. Yesterday, the Real Madrid star played his first complete football game since 2019. Although he didn’t look as sharp as he usually does, what he needs is to complete a full match like he did against Finland. Initially, he seemed a little unconvinced he could make the sprints. However, Eden started looking more confident as time kept going by throughout the 90 minutes.
Right before half time, there was a moment we thought he got injured again with a fresh knock on his ankle. But Eden decided to keep playing after the break and he remained running at a fast pace during the second half. More importantly, the player left a great impression on manager Roberto Martinez. Before the tournament started, the gaffer wasn’t able to respond if Hazard would be able to return to his best form. After last night, he did look more optimistic about the idea.
Hazard even used his bum a bit more.
Just like Yaya Toure said recently, Eden Hazard even dared to use his bum a little more during the second half of the game. When he does this, you can tell he is feeling more comfortable with his body. Regardless of his contribution to the game, what mattered was ending the match with a good sensation. Martinez revealed what he thinks about Hazard’s first full match performance in nearly two years through Marca: “It’s the first time we’ve seen him play 90 minutes since November 2019.
“He seems to be enjoying his football, he understands the players around him well. If there’s something that doesn’t worry me about Hazard it’s his individual talent, so I’m very happy to see him developing well. Physically he feels very strong and now we have a few days to prepare for the next game and see how he feels for the next part of the tournament.”
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