A few last efforts, last shots, last whistles. It’s almost the holidays for the players of the Royale Union Tubize-Braine, in Belgium, but the team was back for one of its last training sessions before the summer this Saturday. A few days ago, the yellow and red stands of the Stade Edmond Leburton filled up for a gala match against Anderlecht, with, on the pitch, a certain Eden Hazard. For the former Belgian international, this is where it all began. At 12, he joined Tubize with his brother Thorgan. One would quickly catch the eye of LOSC, the other of RC Lens.
“You still have a Hazard here!” exclaim players in training. This Hazard is Ethan, the little brother. The 20-year-old center forward will play in the third division with Tubize next season. Like all Belgian enthusiasts, he is awaiting the shock against France in the round of 16 of the Euro. “I see Belgium passing,” he smiles. A revenge for the defeat of the Red Devils in 2018. When they lost against the Blues in the semi-final of the World Cup (1-0), his brother Eden held the armband.
“He was the captain, so he was the one who carried the team. It’s true that there was a very great Eden Hazard,” remembers Ethan. “But football is above all a team. If the team hadn’t followed, it would have been different. If it doesn’t follow, you can have the best player in the world and it doesn’t change anything,” assures the youngest of the siblings, admiring the Belgian “golden generation.”
“We have good players. But Eden was Eden”
“A player like Eden was top 3 in the world at that time. When we lose a player of this caliber, it is also felt in the selection, notes Olivier Langendries, sports director of RUTB. Now we still have good players like Jérémy Doku. But Eden was Eden… an exceptional player.”
So without the local star, and with a less brilliant selection, it is difficult for some Tubiziens to get excited. “There is less enthusiasm this year, we believed in it more in 2018,” assures Louis Delhaye, who plays for the club. Even if the bars remain full, and some shops in the city are adorned with the colors of the Red Devils, it no longer has quite the same flavor.
“Personally, I am less enthusiastic because my brothers no longer play. But I will always support my country, always support the Devils until the end,” promises Ethan Hazard. The connection between Tubize and the national team goes much further than that of his family. The Royal Belgian Football Federation has set up in the city, with the national center, where the A team regularly trains. “In Belgium, we are very well known for our connection with the national team,” emphasizes Olivier Langendries.
A former international who became a local elected official
Some Belgian footballing glories are not hard to find in this town of around 28,000 inhabitants. Next to the RUTB stadium, former international Walter Baseggio seems to know all the inhabitants, and keeps on kissing. Now a local elected official, he continues to follow the Red Devils closely, having represented his country 27 times between 1999 and 2005.
“In our generation we had technical players, but now there are many more who can make the difference,” he rejoices. In our time almost everyone played in Belgium. Now (Kévin) De Bruyne is at Manchester City, (Romelu) Lukaku in Rome and so on… they play in very famous championships. There is definitely an evolution compared to 20 years ago.”
Belgian football which is growing as a whole according to him, beyond the golden generation. “With Michel Platini, Zinédine Zidane, France has always had a little more talent, but for 10 years Belgium has had extraordinary talents. Unfortunately, with the team they had, they couldn’t win anything.”
“The French are the ones who talk about seum”
So failing to win the Euro in the coming weeks, beating the French neighbor would already please fans. “Half of my family lives in France. Even in my family it provokes a little but it’s fair game,” laughs Jonathan, Tubizien and Devils supporters. “The French like to taunt the Belgians,” confirms the RUTB sports director. 2018 is digested. The seum is the French who talk about it. We had already forgotten a week later.”
Some have digested 2018 better than others, but this Monday’s meeting should certainly put a piece back into the machine of Franco-Belgian rivalry. A match that the Hazard siblings will obviously not miss. “We are fully behind the Devils. We follow the matches on TV. We don’t always have the opportunity to go there, but if they go to the final we will go and support them”, plans Ethan Hazard.
For him and the Royale Union Tubize-Braine, a meeting will take place on August 28 against the Charleroi B team for the return of the championship. A third division that the club is finally returning to, four years after its relegation.
Original article published on RMC Sport
