De Bruyne officially replaces Hazard as the new captain of the Belgian national team

2023-03-22 15:13

De Bruyne officially replaces Hazard as the new captain of the Belgian national team


With the 2024 European Cup qualifiers approaching this week, the Belgian Football Association officially announced today that the 31-year-old midfielder Kevin De Bruyne will be the new captain of the Belgian national team.


The captain , 32-year-old striker Eden Hazard, announced his retirement from the national team in December after leading the Belgian team out of the group stage in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, leaving the international football stage.


The performance of the Belgian team in the World Cup in Qatar also revealed that coach Roberto Martinez could no longer win the third place in the 2018 World Cup and was fired by the Belgian Football Association. After that, the Football Association hired former Leipzig RB coach Domenico Tedesco as the coach.


De Bruyne officially replaces Hazard as the new captain of the Belgian national team


And this week Belgium will usher in the first international competition after the World Cup in Qatar. During this period, the vacant captain position has also been finalized, and De Bruyne will officially replace Hazard. De Bruyne is a top midfielder who plays for Manchester City in the Premier League. Now he has played 97 games for the national team and contributed 25 goals. He is an important starter in the lineup.


In addition, the 29-year-old striker Romelu Lukaku, who is on loan from Premier League Chelsea to Serie A Inter Milan, and the 30-year-old goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois of La Liga Real Madrid will be appointed as the vice-captains of the Belgian national team.


De Bruyne officially replaces Hazard as the new captain of the Belgian national team


Next, the new captain De Bruyne will cooperate with the new coach Tedesco, and the team will go to Sweden this Saturday to compete for the tickets to the 2024 European Cup. Belgium will also host Germany for Euro 2024 in an international friendly next Wednesday.


According to the group distribution, Belgium is in Group F with Sweden, Austria, Azerbaijan and Estonia. Belgium needs to fight for the top 2 in the qualifiers to be able to advance.