To mark that achievement, the official Chelsea website sat down with our brilliant Belgian to find out how he has done it…



Eden Hazard turned 24 this January. Against West Ham 10 days ago, he scored his 100th career goal. Depending on whether you count his appearance for Belgium in a World Cup warm-up game last May, against Luxembourg, as a competitive one – FIFA don’t because seven substitutions were made – he either played his 400th game against PSG or he will do so tomorrow, against Southampton.

It is a figure that very, very few players reach by his age, and one that is attainable only by featuring for club teams that go far in cup competitions, and regularly for your national team. He made his Belgium debut at 17.

‘I don’t know, honestly,’ is Hazard’s response when asked if there is a secret to staying clear of injury. It is obvious, considering his talent, why he has always been selected – for Lille, for Chelsea, for Belgium.

‘I think it’s natural,’ he ponders further. ‘It’s like Messi, he’s almost never injured. Ronaldo is the same. Maybe it’s down to a little bit of luck. When I was younger I did judo, so maybe it’s that, I don’t know.’

Judo was, Hazard explains, a means of getting out of doing his homework – in the short-term, at least. He did it for one year and in that time learned how to land on the floor safely, pretty imperative considering how often he is kicked to the ground by a beleaguered and bewitched opponent, but he would rather be out on the pitch practising than doing work in the gym.