In a shock advertisement, Belgian football star Eden Hazard on Tuesday( Oct 10) blazoned his withdrawal from professional football, aged 32. Hazard, a former Chelsea winger had been released by Spanish titans Real Madrid at the end of last season and had been a free agent ever ago.
His withdrawal brings curtains on a career that had all the material of an all- timekeeper but couldn't materialise due to injuries and an ill- befitting move to the Los Blancos.
" You must hear to yourself and say stop at the right time. After 16 times and further than 700 matches played, I've decided to end my career as a professional footballer," said Hazard in an emotional post.
" During my career I was lucky to meet great directors, trainers and teammates- thank you to everyone for these great times, I'll miss you all," he added.
The talented winger expressed gratefulness towards his former clubs and added" I also want to thank the clubs I've played for LOSC, Chelsea and Real Madrid; and thank the RBFA for my Belgian selection."
" A special thank you to my family, my musketeers, my counsels and the people who have been close to me in good times and bad."
As a Real Madrid player, Hazard only mustered seven pretensions and 12 assists in 76 appearances after making a$ 107 million move from Chelsea in June 2019.
Despite sedentary performances, Hazard managed to win the titleholders League, a Club World Cup, a European Super Cup, two La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey and two Spanish Super Mugs.
still, for Chelsea, where Hazard moved for a modest$ 39 million figure in 2012, he went on to win the Premier League doubly while scoring 110 pretensions across 352 appearances including the winner in the 2019 Europa League final against Arsenal in his final appearance for the club.
Hazard's withdrawal from transnational football
specially, Hazard had called it quits at the transnational position following the public side's dismal run at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last time.
At the time, Hazard participated the news on his sanctioned Instagram handle by saying “ a runner turns moment".
Hazard was part of Belgium's golden generation which made it to thesemi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, in Russia but couldn't win the coveted jewel. The Qatar World Cup was an occasion to go another step forward but Hazard's indifferent form meant that Belgium looked a pale shadow of its former tone.