There was no English translation of the full interview
Full credit to u/Meladroitdeposter for the translation
Part 1
France Football: You have the opportunity to relive a moment in your career. Which one would you choose?
Eden Hazard: Wow… I would say my 1st professional game with Lille against Nancy (0-2 defeat, 24th November 2007, Ligue 1 Matchday 15). That’s when it all started. The weather was cold. I was with Badis (Lebbihi, his team-mate)…
So, warming the bench as a substitute at Marcel-Picot Stadium (Nancy’s home arena), how did you feel?
I was 16 (16 years, 10 months & 17 days), so I’m not even thinking about playing as a starter. There’s no pressure. Football’s easy because in my head, I think it’s easy. The day before, I was told „you’re coming off the bench“, I was so happy. We were losing and I came on (77th minute), number 33 and without a name on the shirt.
For me, football has always been the same: Enjoyment, giving & taking pleasure in friendlies or during a World Cup semi-final. It’s been my path and it’s my identity.
There was this self-assured self-confidence to which was added a borderline "I don’t give a shit"
It was annoying when I started my career, which I can understand. We must not forget: it was almost 20 years ago, another generation, different mentality. Arriving with such confidence was frowned upon, it didn’t go down very well.
We talk a lot about the 87 generation in France, it was a bit like that for Karim Benzema and the others. Now it’s different, I applaud the 16-year-old who arrives and says: „Hey, give me the ball and I’ll dribble past you all“. Hats off to him! Respect.
You could be seen as a pretentious
Even as a little shit, I think. I’d arrive, I wouldn’t even tie my shoes and I’d say: „Go on, it’s fine“. Then they saw. Above all, they saw that I wasn’t talking for nothing. „Give me the ball“, OK, bam, bam, goal!
The guys go „wow“. In the end, what was the most important thing? You’re good, you win, you get bonuses, everyone’s happy. I had this ‚I don’t give a shit‘ side within me, but I was respectful off the pitch. I wasn’t a troublemaker in the dressing room. I laughed with everyone. You know the stories. On 2-3 occasions, they made me understand „be careful, you’re young…“.
During those 16 years, what thrilled you most?
The communion between us players & the people. Sharing emotions. Winning matches and titles. You see the happy supporters.
In the street, even people from Marseille and Paris telle me: „Wow, LOSC was great back then!“ Same in London with Arsenal fans: „Hazard, it was beautiful to see“. It goes beyond fanism, they love football.
And what kind of skill gave you the most thrills?
The nutmeg. I could suck, but if I had done my nutmeg, it would have been good. It happened: 5th minute, nutmeg, come on, I’ll stop. (Hazard laughs.) We lost 3-0. but I put in my nutmeg, I don’t care. But it was never intended to humiliate. It’s just that my mates say to me: „Oh, your nutmeg, check it out on YouTube…“. Now I tell my kids, „Look at Daddy’s nutmegs.“ (He laughs again.) I love the beautiful skill, the beautiful control.
I was also into body feints. My centre of gravity was low, my first takes, wow! There was a time when, with my back towards the goal and first take like that (he mimes the start of the movement), no one could take the ball away from me. I remember one duel with Van Dijk, the ball didn’t move. I was so confident. In general, it was either a foul or the defender went down.
Genetically, I’ve been lucky enough to have big thighs and a big ass. That’s helped me too much. Look at ‚Vini‘ (Vinicus Jr), the thighs he’s got, you can’t take the ball away from him. Rabona? I’ve done a lot of them and they’ve often helped. You do a beautiful skill, you hear the ‚oh‘, the ‚wow‘ from the stadium. It’s the best!
What’s the best goal you have scored?
I can’t think of one. With Lille, the goal at Saint-Étienne (3-1, 10th September 2011), slaloming between the players, I finish with the outside of my right foot. Against West Ham (2-0, 8th April 2019), with Chelsea, more of the same in tight spaces. The one at Liverpool (2-1, 26th September 2018)… These are goals that correspond to me, that represent me. The long-range shot at Marseille (2-1, 6 March 2011) is not my style.
When I watched the videos of the players, I didn’t give a damn about long-range shots.
Have you come up against any bad guys?
In the Premier League, a few, but they respected the game. In Spain, they’re meaner, more vicious. They’ll walk all over you and say ‚I didn’t do it on purpose‘.
In France, there was a player called Souleymane Diawara. He was scary. I saw him again with Variétés. He’s a nice person, but on the pitch…
Were you stressed because of football?
It was good stress, linked to the match and the excitement. In fact, I was more stressed at the end, when I was playing less. I had to play, I had to show. I don’t know if it was stress. But I could say to myself „go on, I’m not feeling well, you know what, don’t give me the ball“. At Real, I felt like I was going to lose it before I got it.
What were you like before a big game?
I couldn’t focus for 2 hours beforehand. Otherwise afterwards. I’d do terrible. I tried to do things the other way round, focus, preparation, warm-up: I sucked on the pitch, but really. Whereas playing football tennis or Mario Kart, you just laugh, do whatever in the dressing room, forget all about the match and its importance, and off you go! World Cup semi-final against France, same thing.
Often, the warm-up was rubbish, but I played well. My dad used to laugh. On the other hand, if I hit the top corner, bim, bam, Istart of the match and for the first 3 minutes you wouldn’t see me.
Football was a profession?
No, it was a game. And I tried to push to the end. When it wasn’t a game anymore, I stopped. I knew that it was my job, I was I made a living out of it. But I wanted to be away from it. It’s my hobby, my toy. That’s why why I made this career. That’s how how I feel.
Would you have liked to have had a different mentality? The work ethic of Cristiano Ronaldo, for example?
No. That wouldn’t have been me. After a match, going for 1 hour in the cold bath, no. Leave me alone, my mates and I go home, play cards and have a beer. I play with my sons in the garden for 2 hours. That was my recovery.
If I’d been like Cristiano - and there are others - I would suffer a burn-out.
How did you cope with the demands of professional football?
When you’re good on the pitch, you do what you want. That’s my starting point. I managed myself. I didn’t go to the gym every 3 days, I didn’t do 3 hours of physio to recover. But I made the difference. The requirement is to be good.
What were your least favourite constraints? Defensive effort?
I defended. But that’s not what I’m asked to do. Otherwise, I would have been a defender. I used to joke about it with Azpi (César Azpilicueta) and Branislav (Ivanovic). „Hey, you’re the one who’s running!“ But always with respect. They knew.
John Obi Mikel said: „He’s the laziest player I’ve seen. But at the weekend, he was the man of the match and he’d come up to us and say, ‚Guys, you see‘“.
That’s the truth and I love what he says. OK, I was lazy. But, I went to training every day. But I gave so much of myself and took so much in matches that I couldn’t bear to be at full throttle all week, taking knocks. My body wouldn’t have last 15 years, it would have last 3 years.
When you’re the star player in the team, if you don’t do well… With certain coaches, things didn’t work out: "He doesn’t run in training, so the youngsters who arrive want to do what Eden does. But not everyone can do what Eden does. That’s what they explained to me. But leave me alone. And if they don’t want to run, they don’t want to run. I don’t want to be an example.
How was your diet?
Normal. I’m not going to say that I was overdoing it. I wasn’t paying attention. But I didn’t go McDonald’s every day. You don’t last 16 years as a pro. I didn’t think it was any importance to it.
I’m a bon vivant, I like to eating out and have a drink with friends. It happened to me to eat at home the night before a match, had a bottle of wine and just chilled. Oh my, Boxing Day, it’s Christmas, raclette, wine (Hazardclaps his hands), we went I don’t know where, goal, goal.
While people tell me to be careful. It’s strange… Diet is rubbish, it’s useless. Well, it’s good if you want to play until you’re 40 years old. I knew that wouldn’t be the case for me. A little Ruinart blanc de blancs is in the fridge all the time.
1 Rieß (Tor), 23 Guilavogui, 25 Hanche-Olsen, 2 Mwene, 30 Widmer, 43 Gruda, 31 Kohr, 11 Ngankam, 10 Richter
37 Schwolow (Tor), 4 Diogo Leite, 3 Jaeckel, 26 Roussillon, 7 Aaronson, 33 Kral, 11 Bedia, 9 Kaufmann, 14 Vertessen
