From a precocious starlet in France to a defender’s nightmare in England, this fleet-footed Belgian has drawn comparisons to the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Laudrup.
A fearless and explosive attacking midfielder, two of his most common exemplary traits are his pace and technical ability, which have been often described as “astonishing” and “mesmerizing”, respectively. The 5Â ft 8Â in playmaker has the ability to change the game with a turn of pace or a dribble.
He was the first non-French player to win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year Award in 2008-09. In 2014-15, he scooped up the ‘Player of the Year’ award for his exploits during the 2014-15 Premier League season.
Childhood
Eden Michael Hazard was born on January 7, 1991, in La Louviere, Belgium to footballing family. His parents were football players who turned sports teachers in order to devote more time to thier children.
Hazard is the eldest of four children. He has three brothers, all of whom play football. The Hazard family lived “no more than three metres” from a football training ground and the brothers often ventured onto a training pitch through a small hole in order to hone and develop their skills.
Career
Hazard’s youth career took in Belgian sides Royal Stade Brainois and Tubize before he settled at Lille as a 14-year-old in 2005. Two years later and the teenage prodigy had made his debut in the French top flight, going on to make a handful of substitute appearances in the 2007-08 season.
The following campaign was a real breakthrough year, though, as he went from impact sub to first-team talisman in the space of a few months, with his sparkling performances earning him an international debut for Belgium and the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award.
In the 2010/2011 season, Hazard won the double with Lille. He was also named best player of both that season and the following one!
His influence was growing strong around the continent and big teams were interested in Hazard. After he rejected offers from big clubs on 2010 and 2011, he finally agreed to a transfer in 2012.
After over eight years at Lille, Hazard left the club, with many days of transfer speculation, to join English club Chelsea.
Life at Stamford Bridge
The Belgian winger adapted quickly to English football and made an immediate impact with his dribbling skills and pace down the left wing. He managed 13 goals in his maiden season at Stamford Bridge and was part of Rafa Benitez’s Europa League winning side. However, he made the headlines for all the wrong reasons in Chelsea’s League Cup clash with Swansea after he was sent off for kicking a ball boy.
But it was during his second season in West London and under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho that Hazard really flourished. His crisp strike in Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup final defeat to Bayern Munich in August 2013 set the tone for his season as he went on to score 17 goals in all competitions.
Mourinho labelled him the best young footballer in the world and it was a sentiment echoed by his Premier League peers as he was named the PFA Young Player of the Year, finishing second to Luis Suarez for the senior award.
International career
Hazard played for all the Belgian youth teams and participated in the U17 European championship in 2007.
He made his debut for the senior team one year later. In 2009, he played his first game over the full 90 minutes against Hungary.
Hazard has appeared in 56 matches for Belgium bagging 7 goals for the team.
Personal life
Hazard is married to Natasha Hazard. On December 19, 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.
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