ROBERTO MARTINEZ has axed Eden Hazard and ignored the chance to start Romelu Lukaku for Belgium’s must win game against Croatia.
Hazard was subbed in both games group games now he is not deemed good enough to start a crunch game for the Red Devils.
It seems age and injuries have finally caught up with the 31-year-old Real Madrid and former Chelsea star.
With goals needed it was expected that Lukaku would get the call to start.
He had not played since the end of October until he came on for ten minutes against Morocco but Martinez clearly feels he is not up to speed to start.
They were two of four changes from the team that suffered a shock defeat to Morocco after their 1-0 laboured victory over Canada that has left them having to beat Croatia to progress.
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Martinez’s preparations have also been rocked by reports of a bust up in the dressing room following that Morocco victory.
It was said that Lukaku had to intervene when a row broke out between Kevin De Bruyne, Jan Vertonghen and Eden Hazard.
This stemmed from De Bruyne’s pre-tournament comments that the team was now too old to win the World Cup.
Martinez tried to play it all down claiming it was a dirty tricks campaign by the French media who first broke the story.
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Having said that the camp had to have a team bonding barbecue and clear the air meeting on Monday to try and calm everything down.
Not the best build up for a country who seemed to miss their big chance in the last World Cup in finishing third.
Now they have to get past the runners-up from Russia just to progress into the knockout stages having been in at least the quarter-finals of the previous four major tournaments.
Croatian boss Zlatko Dalic stuck with the same team from the impressive 4-1 win over Canada.
They just need a point from this game to ensure their progression but Dalic insisted it would be dangerous to play just for that.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
