Azar's life as a "active retirement" based on a ransom graph
Last updated
Last updated
Hazard announced his retirement. Considering that he was born in 1991, he is very early to retire. On the 10th (Korea Standard Time), he wrote on his personal SNS, "It's time to stop now. He decided to end his professional career by playing more than 700 games over 16 years. I realized my dream by playing for many teams around the world and kicking the ball with fun. I was lucky to meet good coaches, coaches and team members during my career. Thank you to everyone who had a good time and I will miss you," he said.
"I'm grateful to all the clubs I've played for. Lille, Chelsea and Real Madrid. On top of that, I would like to express my gratitude to the Belgium national team. Family and friends are especially grateful to those who have stayed close during good and bad times. I would like to thank the fans for following me and encouraging me wherever I run. It's time for a new experience. I'll see you in the field soon," he added.
Azar was in the spotlight from an early age with his overwhelming performance in Lille. He has played since 2009-10 with five goals and eight assists in the French Ligue 1. In the following season, he scored seven goals and 10 assists to lead Lille to Ligue 1 and Coupe de France. In the 2011-12 season, he peaked with 20 goals and 16 assists. For the second consecutive season, he was named League Player of the Year.
Chelsea expressed interest in the huge potential and Hazard wore a Chelsea uniform. At Chelsea, Hazard reigned as an ace. After overpowering the opponent with his unrivalled dribbling ability, he led the Chelsea attack by creating offensive points. Chelsea alone played in 352 official games, scored 110 goals and 92 assists, and won numerous trophies. He has won the Premier League (PL) twice alone, and has won the FA Cup in England, the EFL Cup, and the UEFA Europa League (UEL) twice.
Chelsea player of the year alone has received four awards (2014, 2015, 2017, 2019), PFA player of the year (2015), PL player of the year (2015), and PFA team of the year (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017). In the 2018-19 season, he scored 16 goals and 15 assists in the PL alone, which is the fourth time in PL history that he has scored 15 goals and 15 assists or more. Eric Cantona (1992-93), Matt Le Tissier (1994-95), Thierry Henry (2002-03), and Hazard. He led the golden generation by wearing the Belgian national team uniform and receiving the UEFA Euro 2016 Assistance King, the 2018 FIFA Russia World Cup Silver Ball and the Assistance King. He was named the FIFA World's Best Eleven twice.
Hazard, who peaked at Chelsea, wanted a new challenge and headed to Real Madrid. The transfer fee was 115 million euros (about 154.3 billion won). As can be seen from the astronomical transfer fee, Real's expectations for Hazard were high. I thought it would replace Cristiano Ronaldo's empty spot, who left for Juventus. High expectations have returned to great disappointment.
The injury was a drag. Hazard, who was not easily injured despite tough checks and fouls at Chelsea, continued to fall and was often unable to be used. Real fans voiced criticism as injuries became more frequent and he kept falling out when it was important. Public sentiment was not good enough to be called "glass body" and "the worst eating and running ever." One of the reasons was that the game was messy even if he played.