Chelsea star Eden Hazard blames brother for injury ahead of World Cup
Eden Hazard blamed his brother Thorgan for the injury that forced Belgium’s star man off during Monday's friendly win over Costa Rica.
Eden was substituted after 70 minutes of the 4-1 victory, though Belgium coach Roberto Martinez denied the problem was severe, six days before they start their World Cup campaign against Panama.
Hazard was also taken off in Belgium’s previous friendly against Egypt, again with a knock to the knee. Belgium are in the same group as England, who face Tunisia in their opening fixture on Monday.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Thorgan Hazard said: “It is not the time to take risks. He had done enough in the game to be able to come off. Eden said it was my fault.
“When I wanted to pass to him, it fell a bit short and the defender caught his knee a little bit. But I don’t think it is anything serious.
“Eden has grown in strength during the three friendlies that we’ve played. He has shown he can take the team to the top. We’ve seen we need Eden at his best if we are going to do anything in the tournament.”
Belgium and England meet in the final game of the group, when both sides will hope to have done enough in their first two matches to secure qualification to the knockout stages.
