Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard believes their highly-rated squad can cope with the weight of expectation being heaped on them ahead of this year’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
“We have a lot of players who can deal with the pressure. We have young players too. We are used to performing at a high level under pressure,” he told reporters on Tuesday as the squad prepared to take on Ivory Coast in a friendly international.
With a sparkling array of talent plying their trade in the English Premier League, including Chelsea’s Hazard, Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, Everton’s on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku, Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen and Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini, Belgium are dark horses to win the World Cup.
The draw was relatively kind to them too with Algeria, Russia and South Korea alongside them in Group H.
“We are not the favourites for the World Cup but we are the favourites for the group,” Hazard told a news conference. “But we have to deal with that and make sure that we qualify.”
Kompany, fresh from lifting the League Cup for Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, said the favourites would be the usual suspects but Belgium would be dangerous floaters.
“In reality, who are the favourites? They’re Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain,” he said. “Everybody knows that. They are the favourites, but apart from them, there is a group of teams that can be dangerous.
“We are amongst those teams that can be dangerous. I don’t think that we will win the World Cup only with talent.”
Belgium reached their first World Cup finals since 2002 after comfotably winning their qualifying group with eight wins and two draws from their 10 games.
Hazard is also disputing Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s assertion that the attacking midfielder is due a rest, the 23-year-old insisting that he plays consistently better when fed a steady diet of action.
“I don’t need rest, as I’ve said before, I’m at my best if I can play a lot of matches. But I must be aware that I don’t let myself burn out,” he told the country’s daily Het Laatste Nieuws in an interview published on Wednesday.
“I’m in a good rhythm, I’m getting a lot of game time. I did feel a little down in the first half against Fulham but it went much better in the second half,” he said of Saturday’s 3-1 win in the London derby which saw Chelsea move four points clear at the top of the Premier league.
Before the match, Mourinho had told reporters he was hoping Hazard would not play in the midweek international.
“He needs a rest,” the Chelsea manager said last Friday.
“It’d be perfect if his national coach did not play him.
“He can not have a rest in the club. In the national team he doesn’t have to play friendly matches.
“He needs a rest and they could give him a rest. It’s important for us and I prefer him on the pitch even if he’s tired because I know he can produce things.”
Hazard would not start for Belgium against the Ivorians but was expecting to come on from the bench, he said.
“I spoke to the coach (Marc Wilmots) about it and we will see how long I will play. He understands the situation, he’s not stupid. He knows I’m playing a lot.”
Hazard told the Belgian daily he was in the best form of his career.
“That shows in the statistics and in the succession of matches in which I’ve played well. In my last season at Lille, I also had a good run, similar to now. I hope it will continue and that I will profit with both Belgium as well as Chelsea.”
Hazard said his relationship with Mourinho was also going well.
“I find we have a normal relationship. If there are things to be said, he says them. If you are playing well, he says so. But if you are not, you also get to hear about it,” he added.
“I prefer it if people say things to my face. He might be called the ‘Special One’ but to me he is the ‘Normal One’.”
Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Ashkal'
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
SPECS
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
