Ignacio Ortega
Saint Petersburg (Russia), Jun 11 (EFE) .- Everyone is waiting for Hazard. The Belgian and Madrid fans, the Belgian rivals and the organizers of the European Championship. But nobody knows if he will arrive in time to show that he is still one of the best players on the planet.
“I don’t think I will play on Saturday against Russia. And if you play, it will only come out for about 15 minutes. He will not have time to regain his physical form ”, Vladislav Radímov, a former Zaragoza player and current coach of the Zenit subsidiary, told Efe.
NO TRACE OF THE CHELSEA HAZARD
There are plenty of reasons for pessimism. A few days ago, Edén Hazard wore the national shirt for the first time since November 2019. Belgian coach Roberto Martínez took it out in the friendly against Croatia in the 82nd minute.
What he showed in those ten minutes does not differ much from what he showed with the Real Madrid shirt in recent months and, by extension, in the last two years dressed in white.
He only started against Osasuna in the league and Chelsea in the Champions League at the beginning of May. The games against the London team left him in evidence. They contrasted with his display in the Europa League final against Arsenal – he scored two goals – before arriving at Madrid two years ago.
In the rest of the games with the white jersey he was a substitute and in the last league game against Villarreal he did not even take the field.
Mind you, Eden has never shown the same attitude as Gareth Bale. For this reason, Zinedine Zidane never turned his back on him. She was patient and waited for him over and over again.
“For me it is very strange that Real Madrid has not found the reason why it is continuously injured,” Víctor Onopko, a former Oviedo player and until recently an assistant coach at CSKA Moscow, told EFE.
In addition, he predicts that he will not be able to get to the tournament “in shape”, since he has lost many months and has had “little game practice”.
“He is an experienced footballer, but he cannot be Chelsea’s,” he insisted.
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ, ITS MAIN VALUE
His other great protector has been Roberto Martínez, aware that without his magic, the “Red Devils” will have a very difficult time winning the European Championship.
First, he denied that the madridista has to “be 100%” to help the team and even assured that “Eden is in its best form for two years.”
Afterwards, Martínez focused on recovering the Belgian’s smile. “He is happy, smiling. Now it’s about building that confidence game after game and training after training, ”he said.
After the match against Croatia, he assured that “medically he is fine” and that the ten minutes he was on the pitch were very important from a “psychological” point of view.
Of course, he never guaranteed that he will play 90 minutes. “I don’t care about 90 minutes. I worry that he can enjoy his football “or” this is not about playing 90 minutes against Russia, it is going that when he is on the field he can be himself. “
In this regard, the player admitted just before traveling to Russia today, Friday, that he still has to consult with the medical team about what to do for the first game against the Russians.
“I have only had a full week of training. It will be the coach’s decision, but I am not 100% yet ”, he confessed.
The general conclusion is that Hazard will not start against Russia and, if the result is positive, it is likely that he will not do so until the crosses.
MODERATE OPTIMISM
“He has been training long enough to get to the first game well. In a month a player gets fit, ”Paulino Granero, physical trainer for the Russian team, told EFE.
Granero believes that Hazard’s thirty-year-old experience will allow him to jump into the field “without being one hundred percent.”
“Experienced players know how to manage the timing and rhythm of the game to compete at the highest level without being exhausted. Young people give everything and do not know how to dose, “he said.
Dmitri Chéryshev, former Sporting de Gijón player and father of Russian international Denís Chéryshev, agrees with him.
“It is true that he has been injured for a long time, he has not done well at Madrid and lost his physical condition. But I think that out of pride he must show that he is an important player, he will fully recover and he will be able to compete and help his team during the Eurocup ”, said Chéryshev, who will comment on the tournament for Russian television.
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