Eden Hazard (oblation)

Eden Michael Hazard born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer, who plays for Chelsea and the Belgium national team. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger. Hazard is known for his creativity, speed, and technical ability and has been described as a "fearless, explosive attacking midfielder who can change the game with a turn of pace or a dribble".He has also been described as "a superb passer" and has earned critical acclaim for his playing style, which has led to the media, coaches, and players drawing comparisons to FIFA Ballon d'Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.Hazard is regarded to be one of the best young players in the world.

Hazard is the son of former Belgian footballers and began his football career in Belgium playing for local clubs Royal Stade Brainois and Tubize. In 2005, he moved to France joining first division club Lille. Hazard spent two years in the club's academy and, at the age of 16, made his professional debut in November 2007. He went on to become an integral part of Lille under manager Rudi Garcia, racking up over 190 appearances. In his first full season as a starter, he won the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year award becoming the first non-French player to win the award. In the 2009–10 season, Hazard captured the award again becoming the first player to win the award twice. He was also named to the league's Team of the Year.

In the 2010–11 season, he was a part of the Lille team that won the league and cup double and, as a result of his performances, was named the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year becoming the youngest player to win the award.Hazard was also given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo for his performances during the 2010–11 season. In June 2012, after over eight years at Lille, Hazard departed the club, amid much transfer speculation, to join English club Chelsea.

Hazard is a Belgium international, having represented his nation at under-17 and under-19 level. Prior to starring for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that qualified for the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship and 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Hazard made his senior international debut in November 2008, at the age of 17 years and 316 days, in a friendly match against Luxembourg. Nearly three years after his debut, Hazard scored his first international goal against Kazakhstan in October 2011. He has since earned 50 caps, and was a member of the Belgian squad which reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Chelsea


On 4 June 2012, Chelsea officially confirmed on its website that the club had agreed terms with Lille for the transfer of Hazard. The midfielder agreed personal terms with the club and passed a medical examination. The transfer fee was reported to be priced at £32 million.

Upon signing with Chelsea, Hazard told the club's official website "I'm delighted to finally arrive here. It's a wonderful club and I can't wait to get started". Hazard was given the number 17, which was previously worn by José Bosingwa.On 18 July, Hazard made his Chelsea debut in the club's first pre-season friendly against the Seattle Sounders and played the majority of the match, opening his Chelsea scoring account.

Upon Juan Mata's departure from the club in January 2014, Hazard was handed the number 10 shirt for Chelsea ahead of the 2014–15 season. On 5 October, he won a penalty against Arsenal after being fouled by Laurent Koscielny, and then converted it himself past Wojciech Szczęsny to open a 2–0 victory which made Chelsea the last unbeaten team in the league. In doing so, Eden maintained his 100% penalty record out of 16 penalties. He also became the only player in Europe who has taken more than 15 penalties and scored all of them. Due to his influential in the Blues' unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign, Eden was second in the EA Sports Player Performance Index, the official statistical analyser of the Premier League.

His first goals of the Champions League campaign came on 21 October, netting from the penalty-spot and from open play in a 6–0 home win over Maribor. On 5 November, away to the Slovene team, he earned an 85th-minute penalty but had it saved by Jasmin Handanović in a 1–1 draw. Hazard opened the scoring in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Hull on 13 December, with the goal being only the second headed one of his entire career. The header came as a surprised for many, even Jose Mourinho; during the post-match interview Mourinho stated: "That he scored in the air, I was surprised. He jumps a lot but normally he closes his eyes. So I was surprised, but very good goal."

style of play

Hazard primarily plays as either an attacking midfielder or a winger and has been credited as being "possibly the outstanding talent in Europe right now". At Lille under former manager Rudi Garcia, Hazard often played in the latter role in the team's 4–3–3 formation and regularly switched flanks because he could use both feet. Following the departures of fellow play-makers Yohan Cabaye and Gervinho in 2011, during the 2011–12 season, Garcia played Hazard as a central attacking midfielder, while also allowing the player to roam back onto the wing if necessary. Two of Hazard's most common exemplary traits are his pace and technical ability, which have been described as "astonishing" and "mesmerizing", respectively.

Hazard's former teammate and Lille captain Rio Mavuba described Hazard as "a great player, with an immense talent. He’s actually not that big, but he’s so fast. He’s also very difficult to dispossess and his finishing is top notch". Hazard's pace coupled with his finishing and inability to be dispossessed easily led to his former coach Claude Puel dubbing him "little Messi", in reference to the Barcelona star. Puel's sentiments were later echoed by former Marseille manager andmedia personality Rolland Courbis who commented "At times it looks to me like Lionel Messi on the right-hand side". Hazard's "flair and tricky" style of play has been described as being similar to Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo; a comparison later repeated by former French international Christophe Dugarry. His vision, described as being the trait he has improved on the most, has allowed him to develop into an effective passer, which compensates for his relatively low goal-scoring output.

In Belgium, Hazard's talent and similar ascension up the country's football hierarchy has led to comparisons to former Belgian international Enzo Scifo. Both players share the same birthplace and Scifo himself spent time with Hazard while he was in Tubize admitting "Eden, you know, I've coached in Tubize. During the week, I took care of the young people at least once, and he, in those days, I immediately saw he had a secure future".

However, despite the positive opinions, Hazard has endured criticism from some. His former national team coach and mentor Dick Advocaat agreed with the majority in that Hazard possessed everything required to be a world-class player, but claims a need for charisma "I told him to have more charisma. He is a talent, but he can not be seen like that forever". In 2010, former Belgium national team manager Georges Leekens questioned Hazard's work-rate. Lille youth academy director Jean-Michel Vandamme countered both managers' criticism by arguing that Hazard simply possesses an intellectual honesty that is out of the ordinary and unexpected of today's footballer declaring "He is a real competitor, not a cheat, nor a moaner, because you don’t hear him complaining when he gets fouled".

Personal life

Hazard is married to Natacha Van Honacker. On 19 December 2010, Belgian and French media announced that she had given birth to a baby boy, Yannis. She gave birth to their second son, Leo, in February 2013.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/