"Legend" - Real Madrid teammates Vinicius Jr and Lucas Vazquez send message to Eden Hazard following Belgium retirement
Real Madrid stars Vinicius Jr. and Lucas Vazquez have hailed club teammate Eden Hazard following his retirement from Belgium's national team.
The 31-year-old announced on Wednesday that he's stepping down from the Red Devils squad, just days after their group stage elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The side finished third in Group F with four points in three games and made their earliest exit from the competition since 1998.
Head coach Roberto Martinez resigned from his managerial position soon after and now, Hazard has called it quits too.
After 126 caps and 33 goals, Eden Hazard has announced his retirement from international football at age 31 🇧🇪 https://t.co/qbr6EAlDea
He put out an emotional message on his official Instagram handle where the former Chelsea star thanked everyone for their support.
It garnered reactions from many of his teammates, including Vinicius and Vazquez, who both summed up Hazard in one word - a 'legend'.
Chelsea left a heartfelt comment too, calling him "one of all-time Belgian greats" while Hazard's former Blues teammate, Reece James, left three hearts in Belgian colors, black, yellow and red.
Hazard played for Belgium's youth sides at various levels before earning his first senior cap in 2008 at just 17 years of age.
Since then, he has made another 125 appearances for his country, scoring 33 goals and playing in five major tournaments, including three World Cups.
He's only behind Romelu Lukaku (68) in terms of goals scored for Belgium and ranks fourth on the nation's all-time appearance list.
Belgium's golden generation crash and burn at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Belgium's golden generation is widely considered one of the best and most talented sides in the world, and yet, the side has failed to pick up a single trophy at major tournaments.
Their first outing was the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where Belgium lost to eventual runners-up Argentina in the quarter-finals. Two years later, they were knocked out in the last-16 of Euro 2016 by Wales in a humiliating result.
Belgium's golden generation ends with no World Cup trophy 💔🇧🇪 https://t.co/www8UFZvAE
In Russia 2018, the Red Devils secured their best-ever finish at the FIFA World Cup by picking up a bronze medal before seeing another last-8 exit in last year's Euros.
However, the 2022 FIFA World Cup was by far their worst, with the western European outfit looking bland and struggling to produce their best form.
Even with stars like Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Yannick Carrasco and Dries Mertens, they never really had a successful run at any of the major tournaments.
It's an absolute travesty.