ROBERTO MARTINEZ is sweating on the fitness of Eden Hazard and Eden Hazard with both at risk of missing Belgium’s crunch clash with Italy.
And the Belgians’ national team boss is set to wait until the last moment to see if the duo will be physically fit enough to feature in the quarter-final duel this evening.
De Bruyne, 30, has been struggling with ankle problems following Belgium’s last-16 Euros knockout of Portugal on Sunday.
The Man City midfield maestro sustained the injury following a heavy lunge from behind from Joao Palhinha close to half-time in the game.
On Monday it was revealed De Bruyne has external bruising on the affected area.
Meanwhile, captain Eden Hazard, 30, was found to have pulled his right hamstring after limping off close to full-time during his team’s 1-0 defeat of Cristiano Ronaldo’s side.
At a press conference on Thursday Belgium manager, Martinez said: “We all know we are fighting against time.
“We’ll see tomorrow if they can be involved or not. Unfortunately, at the moment we cannot make a decision.”
Hazard and De Bruyne have been trusted members of Belgium’s Red Devils national side since making their respective senior team debuts in 2008 and 2010.
A facial injury, sustained during Man City’s Champions League loss to Chelsea, forced De Bruyne to miss Belgium’s 3-0 trouncing of Russia in their opening Euros group game.
However the Man City ace returned to help his side win their remaining group game duels and their first knockout encounter.
The midfielder got on scoresheet in Belgium’s 2-1 defeat of Denmark
And the PFA Player of the Year provided an assist for Romelu Lukaku during the team’s 2-0 dispatching of Finland.
His team-mate Hazard has played in all of Belgium’s fixtures in the Euros so far.
And the playmaker, who struggled with injuries at Real Madrid last season making just 14 top-flight appearances, has enjoyed a resurgence at the tournament.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
