Belgium captain Eden Hazard missed
Tuesday’s training session as his team
prepared for their quarterfinal match against
Wales at Euro 2016 thanks to a muscle
problem, coach Marc Wilmots has said.
“Eden felt a slight spasm in the quadriceps
at halftime against Hungary,” Wilmots said.
“He is now following an individual program …
and will be back again the day after
tomorrow. He will be 100 percent, no
problem.”
Defender Thomas Vermaelen was also
absent but he is suspended for Friday’s
match.
After a slow start to the tournament,
Belgium are finally living up to their initial
reputation as favourites to win. The manner
in which they swept aside Hungary in the
round of 16 has put the team firmly back to
the top of the list of contenders.
Belgium reached the quarterfinals of the
World Cup two years ago, losing to
Argentina, and are keen to go even further in
this tournament.
“I don’t want to belong to any category, we
simply play each match to win it,” Wilmots
said. “We’ve had two quarterfinals in four
years, that’s already not bad. And now we
have just one obsession — to reach the final.
“But between what you want and what you
dream … We’ve seen in the past few days
that there is no easy match. Will France
beat Iceland? I’m not so sure. You have to
be wary of everyone.”
First up for Belgium are Wales and their star
forward Gareth Bale, who has scored three
goals in the tournament.
“He has a free role, we will have to play
compact,” Wilmots said. “But it’s not just
one player we have to worry about. Everyone
knows his role well and his growth in
power.”
Against Hungary, Belgium missed several
chances before scoring a late flurry of goals.
Wilmots also said that his players “need to
be more clinical, so they can be at ease
quicker.”
Belgium’s forwards have lightning pace, but
Wilmots insists his side will not sit back and
wait to hit Wales on the counterattack.
“I’m going to watch some Wales matches
this afternoon,” Wilmots said. “But from their
past matches, Wales will sit back and wait
for us with five defenders. We could also
wait and see how they will react but that’s
not part of our philosophy.
“We have to be calm and patient. We have
to take our game to Wales and try to pierce
their defence.”
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