Belgium kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 3-0 win against Panama but the scoreline does not reflect the whole story.
Roberto Martinez’s side struggled to get into the groove during the first 45 minutes and it was only after the break that Eden Hazard and co shifted gears and thumped three goals Panama.
And after the match, Belgium captain Eden Hazard lashed out at striker Romelu Lukaku for “hiding” during the first half of the game.
Hazard said: “At half-time, I told him we needed him. He’d been hiding out a bit up front. It’s not easy playing with a man missing.
“But once he got in there, involved in the game, like magic, he scores two. I hope he understands now.”
After these comments, there has been a lot of carping hurled towards Eden Hazard for publicly criticising Romelu Lukaku.
But the Belgium captain has stood by his statement claiming he was just doing his job as the leader of the team.
Speaking to the reporters, Hazard said: “As the captain, even if I am not the captain I can talk, on the pitch I try to give my best if I can help players to be better – I will.
”I just told Romelu [Lukaku] if we want to win the game we need him, not just as a scorer to score goals, but we want him to be involved in the build-up. We just talked normally and we won the game in the end so it was fine.”
While Hazard has been gushing about his duties as a captain but it was Romelu Lukaku was seen doing the real leadership role before the game against Panama.
Belgium play their next game against Tunisia on Saturday afternoon after which they take on England in their final group stage game.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://thefootballfanbase.com/eden-hazard-stands-by-his-harsh-comments-about-romelu-lukaku/&media=https://thefootballfanbase.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1024px-Romelu_Lukaku_27_September_2017.jpg&description=And after the match, Belgium captain Eden Hazard lashed out at striker Romelu Lukaku for "hiding" during the first half of the game.){kind=link}