Belgium ran out impressive 4-0 winners last night against a Hungarian team that had done well previously in Euro 2016. The outstanding performance from Belgian captain Eden Hazard would have raised a few eye-brows, especially in the Welsh camp.

Wales will now taken on the Belgians in the quarter-final stage of the competition on Friday night.

Against Hungary you could see that Hazard was looking more and more like the world class creative force we knew he could be at this tournament. As the Hungarians tried to find a way back into the game after Toby Alderweireld headed home the opener after just ten minutes, Hazard kept on finding more space and always looked dangerous on the ball.

In the seventy-eighth minute Hazard beautifully beat his man on the lefthand side and picked out substitute striker Michy Batshuayi free inside the penalty area to tap in Belgium’s second of the game. His run and cross were majestic and showed his true qualities as a vibrant attacking threat.

Then a minute later, Eden once again picked up the ball on the left. He then cut in onto his right foot, evaded two challenges and expertly curled the ball past Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly. You could see that he had finally arrived at these European Championships, is ready to step up for his country and play with a smile on his face.

If he can keep turning the style on like that, then Belgium must fancy securing a spot in this summer’s final (They’re in the favourable side of the draw after all). Hazard is starting to play with that swagger that helped Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2015. He is one of those players that can change a game in an instant with a superb pass, run or goal!

The odds above have been taken from Bet365 and show that the Belgian’s will be priced as favourites for this encounter. They have kept three cleansheets in their last three games and have other star forwards in Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne who can also be match winners.

But Wales can take heart in the fact that a well organised Italian team managed to nullify the Belgian attacking threat and beat them 2-0 in their opening group game. The Welsh obviously also have a world class attacker in Gareth Bale and let’s not forget that he won the match the last time these two teams met in the qualifiers.

Wales boss Chris Coleman has upped the pressure on his opponents by stating:

“if you have a squad with that quality then any team you play against, apart from maybe two of three, Belgium are favourites.”

But I think if Belgium’s quality can shine through on Friday night in Lille (Hazard’s former footballing home) then not even Gareth Bale can prevent Eden Hazard and Co in their march for the European crown!

Posted on June 27th, 2016 by scott
Filed under: Article, Euros