Blues star Eden Hazard believes he lacks a key quality in order to ultimately win the Ballon d’Or.
In the past, the Belgian, 27, has often spoken optimistically about wanting to win the trophy, even as recently as after Chelsea’s title win last season.
“I hope to win the Ballon d’Or one day,” he told Sky Sports in May. “It’s in my mind. Could I win it? If I play next season, we win the Champions League and I win the World Cup with Belgium, why not?”
But in his most recent interview, the tune appears to have changed.
Hazard has had quite a passable 2017/18 campaign, recording 16 goals and 13 assists in all competitions even though Chelsea as a collective suffered very insipid form. The defending champs missed out on Champions League football with their woeful fifth-placed finish and, were it not for Hazard’s individual brilliance against Man United in the FA Cup, might have ended the season trophy-less.
The Ballon d’Or – soccer’s top individual prize – is the award given to those players who outshine others as solo performers. Players who, in as much as football is a team game, are able to use their individuality to carry the team forward. But despite having taken on that mantle for Chelsea in 2017/18, Hazard believes he is too unselfish to be able to clinch that particular gong.
“He always told me that,” Hazard told the BBC, referring to his father. “Maybe it’s true.
“I think, in football now, if you want to win something like the Ballon d’Or or [to be the] top-scorer, you need to be selfish. But I’m not like this, not at all. I’m just who I am.”
FA Cup Win ‘For the Fans’
Hazard also discussed his club’s recent FA Cup win of which he was the main catalyst. The Chelsea top scorer dedicated the trophy to the Blues’ adoring fans, adding that though it didn’t seem so, he did feel the nerves while taking the winning penalty. That’s even as he appeared to nonchalantly pass the ball into the net after dummying the usually imperious David De Gea.
“They made a mistake and the ball came to me. I’m lucky that I managed good control and I got past Jones. I only went down in front of the goal,” he added.
“There is always a bit of pressure with a penalty. Especially if it is 0-0. If you have a penalty at 3-0 or 4-0 you obviously do not feel any pressure because the game is won.
“But at 0-0 in a final there’s always [pressure]. I have handled it well. Waited for the keeper to choose a side and kicked it the other side. I am content. You never know what can happen but for me it was mainly a way of thanking the fans. They have always supported us. We have not always played well but they were here en masse.”
Featured image: Twitter @hazardeden10
