da luck： Everything you need to know about the Belgian magician!
da blaze casino： One of the most visually appealing things when it comes to football is the on-ball wizardry and deadly dribbling of some players: the nimble footwork, the slick one-touch passing, the sheer audacity to get past a barrage of defenders through clever dribbling.
One player who mastered the aforementioned traits is Eden Hazard, who is, without any qualms, one of the best dribblers of this generation.
Born on January 7, 1991, in La Louviere, Belgium, Hazard joined his hometown club Royal Stade Brainois at the age of four. He spent eight years at the club before moving to Tubize, which is where Lille scouts spotted him.
Hazard moved to France to join Lille's youth academy in 2007 at the age of 16, where he initially played for the reserve team. He made his first-team and professional debut on November 24, 2007, in a Ligue 1 match against Nancy, where he came on as a substitute in the 78th minute.
He quickly established himself as one of the most talented young players in France, helping Lille win the league and cup double in the 2010-11 season.
In 2012, Hazard moved to Chelsea for a reported fee of £32 million. He went on to win two Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues, one FA Cup, and one League Cup during his seven-year spell at the club. Hazard was also named Chelsea Player of the Year on four occasions.
In 2019, Hazard joined Real Madrid for a reported fee of €100 million, which, according to Hazard, had always been his dream club. However, the Belgian's move to the Santiago Bernabeu didn't turn out to be beneficial to either party as he has had an injury-ridden time in Madrid and continues to be out of favour for current manager Carlo Ancelotti.
When it comes to his international career, Hazard represented Belgium at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2016 and 2020 UEFA European Championships. He has been named Belgian Player of the Year on three occasions (2017, 2018, 2019) and led the Red Devils to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup, where he won the Silver Ball.
Known for his dribbling skills, creativity, and eye for goal, Hazard is widely regarded as one of the best attacking players of his generation. He has won numerous individual awards throughout his career and is considered a legend at both Chelsea and Lille.
Although we have come to witness Hazard's absurd talent week in, and week out for a long time, what are some of the most interesting facts about the Belgian that you absolutely must know?
GettyA footballing family
Eden's mother, Carine and father, Thierry were both footballers.
Carine was a striker in the Belgian Women's First Division from age 20 to 26. When she was three months pregnant with Eden, she stopped playing and never resumed.
Thierry was a defensive midfielder for La Louviere in the Belgian Second Division.
Meanwhile, Eden is the eldest of the four brothers. His three brothers, Thorgan, Kylian, and Ethan, are all professional footballers.
Thorgan arrived at Chelsea in 2012, shortly after the Blues signed his brother Eden. Thorgan currently plays for Borussia Dortmund.
Kylian is currently playing in the Belgian First Division B, the second tier of Belgian football, for RWD Molenbeek, while Ethan is presently playing for the under-21 team of Tubize, Eden's former club.
AdvertisementYoungest goalscorer for Lille at the time
Hazard had to wait for the commencement of the 2008-09 season to be promoted permanently to the first team.
On September 20, 2008, he was brought on as a substitute against Auxerre. With Lille trailing 2-1, Hazard was the difference-maker as he scored the equaliser in the 88th minute. Lille would win the game 3-2 thanks to Tulio de Melo's stoppage-time winner.
When Hazard made it 2-2 to score his first-ever senior goal, he became the club's youngest goal scorer ever at 17 years and 257 days.
First international footballer to win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year
Hazard became the youngest goal scorer in club history, but that did not warrant him a starting spot.
However, his name started appearing often on the team sheet in the second half of the season, and Lille benefitted as a result.
In games against Sochaux and Monaco, he scored and contributed to the winning goals, and in Coupe de France, he scored against Lyon to eliminate the reigning champions.
Later in the season, as it became more evident that Lille had a genuine diamond on their hands, he resumed his streak of scoring in crucial games with a goal against Marseille.
Hazard became the first international player to win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award for his breakthrough and performance.
First player to win the Young Player of the Year award twice
In the 2009-10 season, Hazard started garnering interest from some of the biggest clubs across Europe due to his influential displays in the Europa League.
But it was not just Europe where he was causing problems. In France, he picked up right where he left in his debut season and scored in games against Lens, Montpellier, and Le Mans to prove his mettle during the big games as Lille continued to push for the Ligue 1 title.
finished the Ligue 1 season in fourth place, just one point below Auxerre in the Champions League positions, but the developing forward had greater success personally.
He was up for both the league's Player and Young Player of the Award nominations, becoming the first to win the latter two seasons in a row while losing out on the former to Lyon's prolific goal scorer Lisandro Lopez.