Euro 2020: Belgium face nervous wait over Hazard, De Bruyne injuries
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne will both undergo scans on Monday to diagnose the extent of their injuries suffered in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Portugal at Euro 2020.
De Bruyne was taken off just after halftime with an ankle injury while Hazard departed in the 87th minute due to a muscle problem, with Belgium now facing an anxious wait ahead of the quarterfinal against Italy on Friday.
“We need 48 hours to find out the extent of the injuries,” said Martinez. “KDB is his ankle, it was a really bad tackle. Eden is more of a muscle feeling. We will go back to Belgium tonight and do scans tomorrow.”
Belgium edged into the quarterfinals thanks to a sizzling strike from Eden Hazard’s younger brother Thorgan towards the end of the first half.
Portugal pushed in the second half but the reigning champions failed to muster an equaliser, with Cristiano Ronaldo unable to add to his five goals in the competition.
“The first half we played well, we were controlled and scored a really good goal,” said Martinez.
“In the second half more of the momentum went to Portugal and we showed an incredible mentality. We had to be very disciplined, tactically astute.
“We never lost concentration. This is what a winning team needs. It’s about talent but also all the other elements that we showed today.”
Martinez said his team showed an ability to “suffer” and reserved special praise for his defensive trio of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Vermaelen.
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“There were a lot of question marks about our centre-halves but I never had any worries about players like Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Vermaelen,” Martinez said.
“They are the masters. The talent they have makes defending an art, it was a joy to see those three. It was a game they should show to the all the academies in Belgium of how to defend in a team.”