Hazard quashes reports of Belgium 'collapse', insists De Bruyne 'believes' despite 'too old' jibe

Eden Hazard says the Belgium team had a 'good talk' following their loss to Morocco, but insists there was no 'breakup', despite reports that he and Kevin De Bruyne had to be separated.

Roberto Martinez's side have not been good at the World Cup so far.

As a result, much of the blame has been directed at the former Everton boss, with many football fans once again wondering, "How the hell is he still in charge of Belgium?" '

You get the impression that Belgium's 'golden generation' is over, with its star players all in their thirties, or already in their thirties.

The Red Devils have already taken part in highly regarded tournaments to win the prize, with Hazard, De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, Yannick Carrasco, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen all in their prime.

However, they went unnoticed for the World Cup in Qatar, with De Bruyne himself saying they have "no chance" of winning the tournament as they are "too old".< /p>

Hazard actually added fuel to the fire by saying his team wasn't as strong as they were in Russia, which is true.

He said: "To be fair, I think we had a better chance of winning four years ago.

"The team was better four years ago, but we still have the quality to win games and win the competition."

That said, De Bruyne's comment clearly did not go down well with his teammates.

Following Belgium's 2-0 loss to Morocco, Vertonghen clearly had to bite his tongue in an interview as he applauded the Manchester City star.

"There are so many things going through my mind right now, things that I shouldn't say outdoors," he said.

Vertonghen also said sarcastically, "Where did it go wrong? We probably attack as badly because we're too old, must be it now, surely?

"We have a lot of quality in attack, but Morocco too, and they did better today," he added. "It's very frustrating."

The consequences of Morocco's loss were brutal, with Belgian outlet RTL Sport claiming that Lukaku needed to end a three-way confrontation between De Bruyne, Vertonghen and captain Hazard.

This was refuted by goalkeeper Courtois, who promised that whoever leaked this information to the media would be expelled from international training if found out.

He said, "The problem is, what's said in the press isn't always the truth. Who leaked this? We don't need to know. If it comes out, it's his last day in the national team."

And Hazard confirmed that words were spoken in the dressing room, but only by their manager.

He says the players had "a lot" to say afterwards, with Belgium needing a win against Croatia on Thursday to qualify for the knockout stages.

"We had a good conversation between the players," said the Real Madrid winger. “A lot of things have been said. We talked for an hour about good things and not so good things. Now we want to win against Croatia. We now have two days to prepare. We must be ready.

"Nothing happened in the locker room. Only the coach (Martinez) spoke. I spoke to Kevin De Bruyne, he believes in the group."

Belgium take on Croatia on Thursday afternoon knowing they must win against the 2018 finalists.

They are currently third with three points with a goal difference of minus one.

Croatia leads with one goal, with Morocco tied on four points after drawing with Croatia and beating Belgium.

Canada are at their lowest and already eliminated from the tournament with two losses in their first two meetings.

Before losing to Morocco, Belgium edged Canada with a goal from Michy Batshuayi.

The North American team were significantly better that day, with the Belgians disappointed as Canadian skipper Alphonso Davies missed an early penalty.

READ NOW: World Cup Player Stats: Goals, Assists, Shots, xGs, Key Passes & More in Four Stitched Groups