Eden Hazard will tonight lead Belgium into a new era under Roberto Martinez after retaining the captaincy of the national side.
Belgium entered Euro 2016 ranked among the best sides in the world, according to Fifa’s official rankings, but rarely impressed during the tournament, crashing out to Wales in the quarter-finals having already been outclassed by Italy.
The failure of one of Europe’s most talented squads cost Marc Wilmots his job, with Martinez being named his successor last month. The former Everton manager will be assisted by Thierry Henry but will also hope his squad can show more leadership than they did in the summer.
Chelsea star Hazard was captain at the Euros in the absence of Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany and will remain in place for Thursday’s friendly against Spain in Brussels.
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“Hazard will lead the team, but we have leaders like Thibaut Courtois, Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen,” he said. “The leadership needs to be shared and I think we have some personalities that need to push the dynamics of this group.”
Martinez added: “The individual talent, as we all know, it's a very gifted generation and as a manager or coach, you feel proud to be with this group.
“Everyone is allowed to impress, everyone is allowed to have a big role with the Red Devils going forward.
“When I say about the mentality, the hardest thing in football is to achieve something that you've never done.
“When you sit down in a group like this and we say we're going to try to win a big tournament, if you've never done it before you can't get guidance or get that inspiration from somewhere.
“"So obviously it's a fresh start. I think the competition for places and for roles in the Red Devils will give us that intensity that we need in our work. It's a completely fresh start going to the Cyprus game.”
Hazard, Courtois and summer signing Michy Batshuayi make up the Chelsea trio in Martinez’s first Belgian squad, and the latter has already been making the most of the opportunity to work with one of the greatest strikers in recent history.
Batshuayi tweeted a picture of himself with Henry at Belgian training earlier this week, adding he was “not sure I ever listened to my parents like this”.
