Eden Hazard backed to match Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at World Cup by Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek

'Unselfish': Loftus-Cheek has heaped praise on his Chelsea team-mate Hazard
REUTERS
Simon Johnson28 June 2018

Ruben Loftus-Cheek believes Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard can have as big an impact on the World Cup as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Loftus-Cheek is set to face the attaking midfielder on Thursday when England play Belgium in their final Group G match.

Hazard has often been compared unfavourably to Ronaldo and Messi, who have scored four times and once respectively in Russia so far.

Hazard showed his class with a fine brace in Belgium’s 5-2 victory over Tunisia last time out and Loftus-Cheek says England will have to be wary of the 27-year-old’s significant threat in Kaliningrad this evening.

He told Standard Sport: “Eden is such a talented player. Obviously his dribbling stands out. But what I like about Eden is he is such a team player.

“People say he should score more goals if he wants to get to Messi's and Ronaldo's level. He is capable of that anyway because he is so talented. He is so unselfish.

“I don't think he cares about being the main man and scoring loads of goals. But in terms of being a team player he is a main man.

“He doesn't have to be among the goals with those two at the World Cup to be considered at their level. People should look at what else he does.

“Most of them just see highlights, clips of what someone can do and a lot of time just the goals. But he is a team player. People should look at what he does for the team throughout the 90 minutes. His contribution is fantastic.”

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