Football
John Brewin, ESPN FC 8y

Belgium's Eden Hazard focused on 'tough' Wales match in quarters

TOULOUSE -- Eden Hazard followed up Belgium's 4-0 defeat of Hungary in the round of 16 of Euro 2016 by admitting that Wales will be a troublesome opponent in Friday's quarterfinal in Lille.

"Wales are a tough side to play against," Hazard told reporters, after scoring his team's third during a man-of-the-match performance in Toulouse. "We met them in the qualifiers and I don't think we have have ever beaten them."

He also admitted the threat of Gareth Bale.

"They have a great player up front," said the Chelsea midfielder.

Hazard simply said "yes" when asked if Sunday had been his best ever performance for his country and instead paid tribute to an overall team performance.

"I think it will be hard to improve on tonight's performance," he said. "We scored goals, we created chances, and [goalkeeper] Thibaut [Courtois] kept his clean sheet."

Having scored in the seventh minute through Toby Alderweireld, it took until the 78th minute for Michy Batshuayi to convert a Hazard cross for Belgium's second, before Hazard himself (80) grabbed the third and Yannick Carrasco in injury time, scored the fourth.

"Maybe it wasn't the best opposition," said Hazard. "But we made it easy by creating chances from the start and we killed it off at the end. We had to be patient."

In Lille, Hazard will return to the northern French city where he began his career as a professional player, close to the Belgian border.

"Yes, we are lucky enough to play in Lille," he said. "I know the city well but not the new stadium. I have never played there. I hope we will have a great celebration."

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