BRILLIANCE OF HAZARD AND DE BRUYNE HAS BELGIUM PRIMED FOR GLORY

LONDON (dpa) – Once in a generation, a player comes along who can light up a World Cup and turn a good side into a great one.
Belgium have two.
Any of the countries involved in this summer’s World Cup finals would happily have Eden Hazard or Kevin de Bruyne in their side.
But Belgium have both and with the pair arguably in the form of their lives, the nation’s fans are dreaming of World Cup glory.
The pair have lit up the Premier League over the past few seasons, with each helping their side to the title; Hazard in 2015 and 2017 with Chelsea and De Bruyne this season with Manchester City.
With his dazzlingly quick feet, Hazard causes defences nightmares via his mazy runs while De Bruyne can drive at defences, cut teams apart with an incisive pass and smash shots in from long distance.
The great thing for Belgium is that they are not only different, but that they also complement each other.
"De Bruyne is fantastic," Hazard told Sky Sports earlier this season. "He's clever on and off the pitch. He's in full confidence as he's playing in the best team in the Premier League this year.
"When he's on the pitch with good players, he's one of the best in the world. Every time he has the ball at his feet he can do something magic.
"He doesn't score a lot of goals but he can create something with just one movement or pass. It's simple, he's a special player."
Hazard, who beat De Bruyne to become the Belgian FA's "Devil of the Year”, believes Roberto Martinez’s side will be all the better for their experience of 2014, when they were beaten in the quarter-finals by Argentina.
“Four years ago was the first World Cup for most of the players,” Hazard said. “Now we have that experience so we know what to do. We all now have one target, which is to go to the final, so we’ll see what happens.”
De Bruyne has excelled since arriving at Manchester City for a then club-record 54 million pounds, having been let go by Chelsea despite successful loan spells at Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen.
Manager Martinez knows that Hazard and De Bruyne will need to fire for them to succeed in Russia but also understands that they will not be playing on their own.“I think you understand that when preparing for a World Cup, World Cups don’t respect generations or talent,” Martinez said. “They respect winning teams and teams that are prepared to work very hard together to become winning teams. That’s what we are.”
Hazard has been compared to the likes of Barcelona pair Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta but his club manager Antonio Conte says he is very different.
“Hazard is more a No 10 (than Iniesta) and, for me, can play as a false nine, a second striker,” Conte said.
Messi and Ronaldo are still chasing World Cup glory but Hazard and De Bruyne have each other. Who’s to say they won’t claim the biggest prize of all in the same team?