The brilliance of the Eden Hazard World Cup could have long-term consequences | Jonathan Wilson | Soccer

T was a bit late in Belgium's win over Brazil on Friday when Eden Hazard paused. He charged into half of the opposition, went back inside and, as the runners pbaded near him, taking away the defenders with them, the space would open for a pbad to the left to substitute Yuri Tielemans. There was an overlap, a chance of a third goal that would have ended the game. Hazard saw it. He tried to play it. But his legs, for once, did not obey. The ball was going in the right direction but with nothing good enough; Marcelo intercepted. Hazard was essentially too exhausted to pbad a 40-yard ball. Like the rest of the team, it was spent.

If Brazil had found a late equalizer, there could only be one winner in overtime. Belgium had given everything, including Hazard, which does not necessarily have the reputation of the industry. This, and his slightly hesitant personality, were at the heart of his difficult relationship with Jose Mourinho in Chelsea. But here he ran until he could not run anymore.

Hazard said his model was still Ronaldinho: he wanted to do his tricks and play with a smile on his face. He watched the Brazilian and copied his movements. He works much harder than Ronaldinho and often wears a frown rather than the broad smile of his idol, but the original hides under the surface; he jokingly refers to the Chelsea training ground as "Cobham-Cabana". And against Brazil, Hazard was exceptional, like all the top three in Belgium.

His work, in a sense, was simple. It was not the vanguard role that he held for Belgium and that he played for Chelsea over the past two seasons. In Kazan, he started big in a 4-3-3 but with a briefing to cut the space in the gaps left when Kevin De Bruyne dropped deep from his wrong position 9. The danger was against the only potentially link weak on the Brazilian side, the third-right right-back, Fagner. Mexico's Carlos Vela dominated early in the last 16 clashes in Samara; Hazard treated him as a slightly cumbersome drive cone. After the match, Brazil coach Tite retracted his previous complaint to God about all the injuries suffered by his team, but said it would have been a different game if Dani Alves was not ruled out before the tournament. It could have been a different game even if Danilo had been fit.

Fagner was exposed and unable to cope. Brazil's 4-4-2 comeback at the break meant Gabriel Jesus had a cover, but Belgium were leading 2-0. While Romelu Lukaku encircled a flank, crushing Marouane Fellaini and Thomas Meunier, a Brazilian left too prepared for the attack, Hazard made a split on the other side: two different threats, both revived by Roberto's tactical turnaround Martínez, both frighteningly effective.

It was a performance that could have long-term consequences. The situation in Chelsea is far-fetched. Antonio Conte could be sacked next week, or he could still show up at work, the world's most unlikely, George Costanza, to train when the first wave of players return for pre-season on Monday.

We've been talking for years Real Madrid may have made things happen, but Hazard has not failed to talk about a transfer after the FA Cup final in May

Although it is difficult to know with certainty what is happening, Cristiano Ronaldo's representatives are at least negotiating with Juventus. If the vacancy does not open this summer, it will be sooner rather than later. Florentino Pérez, the president of Madrid, is often influenced by the World Cups. After Mesut Özil in 2010 and James Rodríguez in 2014, could Hazard be his big madness after the tournament this year?

Surely there was an audition against Neymar – football matches are rarely these days, except impressionable presidents are involved – there was only one. Only one winner.

Neymar feels more and more the victim of his own celebrity, of his need to be the star in the biopic of his own life. His best football came to Barcelona, ​​when the weight of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and all the post-Cruyffian machine imposed a certain submission on the collective

. Without that, in Paris Saint-Germain and with Brazil, his solipsism unchecked – as if you had been told since your childhood that you were the new Pele. Hours after the final whistle, he wandered alone around the parking lot in front of the Kazan Arena, unable to find the Brazilian bus or hesitating to ride it, a poignant character who was struggling against the poisonous combination of his ego and the expectations of his country. The danger is very different, calmer, more introverted, less confident. It will not brighten a room with a smile. He's not going to send hordes of impressionable teenagers squeezing the last break from their hero to the hairdressers. He can not appreciate the circus Madrid is becoming so often.

But he will follow a tactical plan, he will not elaborate too much and he will devastate a lateral who will give him a half-luck. In a post-Ronaldo world, Hazard is perhaps only the non-celebrity need of Real Madrid. Whatever the case may be, he is an extremely skillful and efficient footballer.