Young midfielder bound for Stamford Bridge did enough against England at Wembley to satisfy his prospective employers
Eden Hazard's assignment, on his first appearance in a senior fixture on an English pitch, was to confront two men with whom, at the start of next season, he should be sharing a dressing room. Aided by a tactical plan that made England's attack look medieval, he gave John Terry and Gary Cahill plenty of problems in the opening minutes.
Hazard is not yet a Chelsea player. The medical examination has still to take place before Roman Abramovich can sign the cheque that will deposit £32m in the coffers of Lille. But after being in receipt of advances from the two Manchester clubs and Arsenal, the 21-year-old Belgian prodigy appears to have put an end to a very public courtship by choosing to join the champions of Europe. He will be expected to inspire the kind of flamboyant football the club's owner hopes to be watching as they mount a defence of their trophy, by contrast with the brave but dour stuff with which they won it.
From the kick-off, Hazard took up the centre-forward position, which was a surprise since he measures just over 5ft 7in. Behind him, in line astern, were the 6ft 4in Marouane Fellaini of Everton and Fulham's Moussa Dembélé, with Dries Mertens of PSV Eindhoven on the right and Kevin Mirallas of Olympiakos on the left. The plan, it became clear, was for Hazard, Fellaini and Dembélé to interchange on the vertical axis, occasionally venturing wide when the two nimble wide players moved inside.
An interesting and novel formation, it demonstrated thought and originality on the part of Marc Wilmots, Belgium's new manager, who was promoted to take over from Georges Leekens a fortnight ago. Wilmots was selecting a team for only the second time at this level, following last week's 2-2 draw with Montenegro.
Half an hour into this match the spectator could only feel that if there was a golden generation in show at Wembley, it was not England's. For Belgium, the failure to qualify for the Euro 2012 finals under Leekens must have been only slightly less traumatic than a similar experience four years ago for their hosts. From 1972, when Belgian football belatedly embraced professionalism, they reached the quarter-finals of four successive European championships, and in 1980 they made it all the way to the final, where they were beaten by West Germany.
They were also present at six successive World Cups between 1982 and 2002, and the squads of 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 featured Enzo Scifo, the Belgian player probably closest in style to Hazard: a deft, perceptive playmaker, a couple of inches taller than his successor in the No 10 shirt but of similar gifts and instincts.
There were moments in the opening passages when Belgium's five forward players seemed to be toying with England, passing the ball to and fro across the face of the home team's penalty area while searching for the glimmer of an opening for the final thrust. The image of bright, progressive football was tarnished in the 17th minute, however, when Mertens stupidly pushed Cahill into Joe Hart as he chased a through ball, costing the Chelsea defender any further involvement in the match.
Hazard's skill with the dead ball came to the fore in the 26th minute. An inswinging free-kick from the No 10 caused problems for the defenders and was touched out for a corner on the right, which Hazard hit long to Guillaume Gillet, waiting beyond the far post to apply a header that was eventually cleared.
That the Chelsea players in the England defence were not about to treat their prospective team-mate lightly was emphasised when Ashley Cole chased Hazard down just after the half-hour mark and halted him with a painful trip.
By now it was apparent that, for all their delightful approach work, Belgium lacked a cutting edge and England's goal, beautifully worked by Steven Gerrard, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck, changed the complexion of the match. Belgium's interplay was no longer as smooth and assured, and the 25-yard drive that Hazard sent narrowly over the bar shortly before the interval seemed an indication of changed priorities.
The No 10 was quiet until, just past the hour, he measured a left-foot shot from 20 yards that Hart caught comfortably enough. A minute later he and Fellaini exchanged passes inside the penalty area, the goalkeeper dropping on the Everton man's clipped effort.
The arrival of Romelu Lukaku, yet another Abramovich employee, offered Hazard a further glimpse of his future at club level, and the two combined in the 76th minute as the burly 19-year-old ran on to a square pass and unleashed a shot blocked by Cole. The England left-back was in action again a few minutes later, once more required to get his body in the way of a shot, this time from Fellaini after one more exchange of passes with Hazard.
If the prospective £32m man had failed to produce the sort of lethal opening familiar to the fans of Lille, then at least he had demonstrated to any watching Stamford Bridge season-ticket holders that he is more than capable of forming a constructive partnership with Juan Mata, Ramires and Fernando Torres as Chelsea get their rebuilding programme under way. Whoever their manager turns out to be, he will be pleased with what he saw. Read More
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