My best Belgium performance – Hazard

Belgium captain Eden Hazard felt his performance in the 4-0 victory over Hungary at Euro 2016 was his best in international football.

The 25-year-old attacker scored a brilliant solo goal and set up a strike for Michy Batshuayi in a 94-second spell late on that sealed an impressive victory for Marc Wilmots’ men in Toulouse.

Toby Alderweireld’s early header had opened the scoring and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco sealed the win with a stoppage-time goal after Hazard had made his mark.

Hazard created a total of four chances for his team-mates and was a constant threat down the left as Belgium produced what he felt was close to a perfect display to book a quarter-final against Wales in Lille – the city where he used to play – on Friday.

Asked if this was his best Belgium performance, Hazard told reporters. “Yes. I had a lot of desire to win.

“We scored goals, created chances and Thibaut Courtois got his clean sheet so it was a good evening. 

“Maybe it was not the best opponent but they were still a tough side to play against. It will be hard to improve on the performance as it was almost perfect. We played well.

“I knew they were a team with a lot of quality who defended well. I knew we would have to be patient to score a goal. My younger brother [Kylian, who plays in Hungary] spoke about that, we got some information and studied them.”

Hazard is expecting a tough challenge against Wales, who took four points from them in two games during Euro 2016 qualifying.

The Chelsea star added: “The further we get the opposition will become tougher.

“We are lucky enough to play in Lille. I know the city very well – if not the stadium as I didn’t play there – so I will be very proud.

“Wales are a tricky side to play against, we met them in the qualification games. We didn’t have many chances, they have a very compact unit and a great player up front. We will study them well.”