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Eden Hazard missed Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Stoke City this weekend with a minor calf injury, and in a rather unsurprising related development, has now pulled out of the Belgium squad for their upcoming two games during this international break.
As he revealed after the win, Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte preferred not to risk his star man against the kick-happy Potters, and he will no doubt be pleased that Hazard can now spend the next two weeks recovering and getting healthy.
“Hazard in the last training felt a bit of a problem in his calf and for this reason I preferred not to risk him.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Mail
More so than most players, Hazard really needs to be fully healthy to be at his best, so hopefully this enforced rest will do him plenty of good and set him up for a strong finish to the season.
Hazard’s Chelsea teammates Thibaut Courtois and Michy Batshuayi also got Belgium’s call and will be in the squad as they prepare to face Greece and Russia.