Belgium players wanted Roberto Martinez to be sacked pre-World Cup due to gutless decision to persist with misfiring superstar: Reports
According to the Mirror, Belgium players were not happy with Roberto Martinez's decision to pick Eden Hazard despite the Real Madrid man's poor form pre- FIFA World Cup. A majority of the stars wanted to see Martinez get sacked even before the tournament.
Hazard has been one of the Red Devils' greatest-ever players in terms of his talent, ability and also performance. He has scored 33 goals and provided 36 assists in 126 games for his country so far.
However, Hazard's form has been far from impressive in recent times. He has struggled for Real Madrid. Martinez kept his faith in the superstar and continued to field him ahead of the likes of in-form Leandro Trossard and Jeremy Doku.
| Eden Hazard used to receive such tackles on a weekly basis & we all wonder why his body gave up after a point! 🥲
🚨🎥 | Eden Hazard used to receive such tackles on a weekly basis & we all wonder why his body gave up after a point! 🥲😂😅
https://t.co/fsy2Uox6uT
The Belgian players were not happy with the decision, the aforementioned report states.
Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, stepped down from the role of Belgium's manager after the Red Devils' exit from the group stages of the tournament.
The 49-year-old said:
“That was my last game with the national team and it’s emotional as you can imagine. It was going to be the end whether we were world champions or out in the group stage. It has nothing to do with being eliminated at this stage. This is the time for me to accept that this day is the last game.”
The Red Devils bowed out of the tournament after scoring only four points from their three group games.
Alan Shearer defended Belgium star despite dismal FIFA World Cup performance
Romelu Lukaku missed a few gilt-edged chances during the Red Devils' final FIFA World Cup group stage game against Croatia. Had the Inter Milan striker converted those, the Red Devils would have advanced to the knockout stages.
🚨Croatian Legend - Ivan Rakitic has offered to pay for a month-long vacation in Split, Croatia for Romelu Lukaku as a gesture for his missed chances against Croatia. 💀🇭🇷
🗣️Ivan Rakitic : ""Let’s go Lukaku! We have to pay him a month of vacation in Split. Let’s go!" 💀 https://t.co/AXavht3RiT
Alan Shearer, however, didn't want to blame Lukaku for Roberto Martinez's side's exit, as he told the BBC (via Metro):
"It’s not down to him. They will look at themselves and blame themselves because Belgium have been miles off from where they were four years ago to where they are now. They didn’t do enough and they didn’t deserve to go through. They tried, they created a few chances in the second-half but it was too little too late."