Belgium are sweating on the fitness of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne for the remainder of their European Championship campaign after both exited Sunday’s last-16 victory over Portugal with injuries.
Thorgan Hazard’s delicious strike from outside Rui Patricio’s box in the first half was all that could split the teams in a frenetic game that at stages threatened to boil over.
De Bruyne came off minutes after the restart following a challenge with Palhinha, while Hazard signalled to the bench while clutching his hamstring as the game ticked towards stoppage time.
The goalscorer said: “I hope it’s not a big injury [for Eden] but it didn’t look so good – the medical staff are very good in Belgium so we hope everything will be OK for the rest of the tournament. Also with Kevin because we need these two players to advance.”
And defender Thomas Vermaelen said: “We had to really stay focused. It has cost us a lot of energy, but we have some time to recover and now we are looking forward to the game against Italy.”
Victory in Seville means Belgium will now travel to Munich for a mouthwatering showdown with Italy, who beat Austria 1-0 in extra time on Saturday, this Friday. That gives Hazard and De Bruyne five days to prepare for the encounter.
And goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is expecting a tough match against the free-scoring Italians.
“I didn’t have a lot of work to do in the previous three games, but I knew that wasn’t going to be the case against Portugal,” Courtois said.
“I am proud of my team-mates; they defended very well. Italy will be difficult too, but we have proved today that we are ready for it.”
As for Portugal, they will look back at a difficult title defence that few expected them to truly accomplish. A gruelling group stage saw them beat Hungary, lose to Germany and draw with France – three games that would have sapped the legs of the freshest international teams, let alone one stocked with players that have effectively played back-to-back club seasons due to the coronavirus.
Cristiano Ronaldo was denied his record-breaking international goal, while Raphael Guerreiro came closest with eight minutes remaining when he rifled a low drive against the woodwork.
“We are disappointed. I have some players crying in the dressing room. They gave everything,” said Portugal boss Fernando Santos. “Belgium had six shots and scored one. We had 29 and hit the post twice.
“We had confidence and knew that we could reach the final and win again. There is no justice or injustice, we conceded a goal and we could not score. There is no luck or bad luck.
“The players did everything. They gave what they had and there is nothing to point blame at. They were tired but found the energy to overcome the different rest time between the teams. But that’s no good now, it’s just talk.”
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3qsKjmI
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