Hazard relishing Belgium captains role

Belgium’s Eden Hazard said he is enjoying his new role as captain of the national side in the absence of the injured Vincent Kompany.

Hazard was speaking at a news conference ahead of his side facing off against Estonia in the World Cup Qualifiers.

“It’s good to be the captain. You know, I enjoy this. I try to be a leader on the pitch. Maybe it’s new for me, now it’s just one year, I’m the captain. But, yeah, I enjoy and I want to lead Belgium until the World Cup. I want to win something with the country. I hope we will, but it’s too far now,” said the Belgium and Chelsea attacker.

The Belgians have been hit by an injury to Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele, who has returned to his club with a muscle problem.

“We decided to allow him to go back to Tottenham Hotspur not for a serious problem but I don’t think he had 100% fitness for the game, I think he was just carrying a little bit of tightness in his muscles but he wasn’t available to play in the game. Everyone else is fine and fit to train tonight.

“We got Leander Dendoncker joining the group as a cover in that centre-half position and the midfield and we’re going to assess Stephen Defour until the last second because he was carrying a little bit of soreness after coming back from injury,” said the Belgian manager Roberto Martinez.

The former Everton manager also added that he believes the Estonia game will not be an easy test for his Belgium side, who are ranked fourth in the FIFA world rankings.

“As a whole the new coach has brought a different structure in the way that they want to get on the ball. I saw the game against Greece – they concede two goals from dead ball situations, an early corner and free-kick in the second half but overall they were very impressive.

“So, I can see that this team is a new team that is going to get stronger through the qualifying rounds. I think we’re going to see a very dynamic group of players tomorrow. Very, very competitive. And we need to be well aware of (Konstantin) Vassiljev not being able to get a lot of joy on the ball,” the Belgium boss said.