MX23RW : Thursday, November 7 21:29:50| >> :60:407:407:

Footballing family watches Eden become cream of the Hazard crop

Footballing family watches Eden become cream of the Hazard crop
© Reuters
Hazard has left Chelsea after seven years at the club to join Real Madrid.

Eden Hazard was born to be a footballer.

His mother Carine played in Belgium's Women's First Division until she was three months pregnant with him, while his dad, a defender, continued an amateur career which took him as high as the third division with Louviere.

Add in three younger brothers, all players, and as Hazard has noted they could put together a mean five-a-side team.

Hazard scored two goals to help Chelsea win the Europa League in his final match
Hazard scored two goals to help Chelsea win the Europa League in his final match (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Thorgan, 26, signed for Borussia Dortmund from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Monchengladbach in a reported £30million deal last month; Kylian, 23, is at Cercle Brugge on loan from Chelsea; Ethan, 15, is with the same Tubize academy that Eden once played for.

But Hazard's footballing story started before Tubize.

It started when he would sneak over the back fence of their house in Braine-le-Comte to play on the fields of local side Royal Stade Brainois.

When he was finally caught by the club's general manager, Pascal Delmoitiez planned on reprimanding the intruder but the closer he got, the more impressed he was by the youngster's penalty placement as he fired one after another into the top corner, and instead signed him up for the juniors.

Kylian Hazard, right, is also on the books at Chelsea
Kylian Hazard, right, is on the books at Chelsea (Simon Cooper/PA)

Hazard spent five years with the club, though Delmoitiez recalled they could only teach him so much – he seemed to know most of it already.

Next he moved up the road to second division side Tubize and soon the youth academy of Lille, across the border in France but still only an hour from home, came calling.

It took Hazard just a few months to sign his first professional contract, and a debut came at the age of 16. He did not immediately become a regular, of course, but after he became Lille's youngest-ever goalscorer at the age of 17, a Belgium call-up swiftly followed.

His four seasons in northern France were highlighted by the 2010-11 campaign, when Lille completed a Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double, with Hazard contributing 12 goals in 54 appearances.

Hazard in action for Belgium against England
Hazard in action for Belgium against England (Owen Humphreys/PA)

There was no question he was the star graduate of Lille's academy, but still there was the odd gripe about his application.

There was the time that manager Georges Leekens suspended him after he was caught outside the ground eating a hamburger while a match in which he had been substituted continued inside.

His former captain Rio Mavuba claimed he played his final game for the club, a dead rubber against Nancy, hungover after a late night celebrating his upcoming move to Chelsea. Not that it showed on the pitch as he scored a 34-minute hat-trick.

Such antics would not be tolerated by Jose Mourinho. Chelsea had won a lengthy transfer battle to land Hazard, and rewards came early as he contributed to six goals in his first three games.

It has been a pattern ever since. His best goalscoring year prior to this came in 2014-15, helping Chelsea to the Premier League title and League Cup double, and he has equalled that tally of 19 this campaign.

Hazard has also matured off the pitch. Now a father of three after marrying his childhood sweetheart Natacha, the Belgian keeps himself to himself away from football.

The keen NBA fan has been a regular sight at games at the O2, but otherwise little is heard of him, even at San Diego 1904, the North American Soccer League club he co-owns alongside Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sow.

Hazard attending the NBA London Game in 2018 at the O2 Arena
Hazard attending the NBA London Game in 2018 at the O2 Arena (Simon Cooper/PA)

His talking comes on the pitch, where he has helped Chelsea to two Europa League crowns, two league titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup.

Fair to say then that Hazard has delivered all that was promised when Chelsea saw off both Manchester clubs and Arsenal to sign him in 2012.

One other club had been interested as Zinedine Zidane had personally recommended him to his old club Real Madrid. Seven years later, Zidane and Madrid have their man.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Ian Parker, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'e1005cdd-bcaa-4c71-9808-a1a7dc1f56d9');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Footballing family watches Eden become cream of the Hazard crop'});

ID:361418: cacheID:361418:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:12628:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Eden Hazard in action for Chelsea on May 29, 2019
Read Next:
Eden Hazard's Chelsea career in numbers
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!