Brussels (AFP)

Long remained in the shadow of his older brother Eden, Thorgan Hazard can take advantage of the absence of the Real Madrid striker, tested positive for Covid-19, to shine with Belgium, opposed on Wednesday to Switzerland in a friendly match at Leuven (8:45 p.m. / 7:45 p.m. GMT).

In the Hazard family, he was only considered for a long time as a "little brother of".

A little as if the Belgian opinion, dazzled by the dazzling performances of the superstar Eden, wanted to confine Thorgan to a modest supporting role, too obscure to deserve anything other than a simple mention in small print at the bottom of the poster.

However, character, Thorgan Hazard does not lack.

Qualities either, revealed over time.

At 27, this attacking midfielder (28 caps) has finally managed to make a name for himself in the world of professional football, where he has already played more than 300 matches.

He managed to get his qualities accepted, less striking, no doubt, but just as precious.

Versatile, preferring to flourish in the heart of the game but often moved to a flank, the youngest Eden now plays at Borussia Dortmund, which he joined in July 2019 from another Borussia, that of Mönchengladbach.

- At his own pace -

Author of a convincing first season in favor of BVB (43 matches, 7 goals, 14 assists), he also earned his stripes of holder within a Belgian selection always so infernal, which sits proudly at the top of the ranking of Fifa.

Admittedly less gifted than his elder brother, Thorgan Hazard has been able to build a good career, growing at his own pace, patiently, without skipping steps.

How far away is the time when Eden and Thorgan, the eldest of a family of four boys, kicked a ball in Braine-le-Comte in Wallonia, where an opening in the hedge at the back of the family garden led to the field of football.

If Eden's career quickly took off in Lille, Thorgan took a tangent to try to avoid comparisons as much as possible.

It was not in Lille but in Lens that he left to perfect his football background.

After a shy start in Ligue 2 (15 matches, 0 goal in 2011-2012), he was recruited by Chelsea, his brother's club.

- In another dimension -

"If his presence facilitated my transfer, they did not take me on the basis of my name but because they detected something in my game", he recalled recently.

"As far as I know, Terry's or Lampard's brothers didn't get this special treatment."

Never in the game with the "Blues", Thorgan Hazard is then loaned the following two seasons in Belgian D1, to Zulte-Waregem, where he shows a certain potential in a role of playmaker which earned him the Golden Shoe of best player in the Belgian league, in 2013.

He then crossed the German border to join the Bundesliga, where he expanded his game, his tactical science and his physics between 2014 and 2019 in Mönchengladbach, silencing the last skeptics.

Today, Thorgan Hazard has taken on another dimension, as paradoxically demonstrated by his three-star performance with a double against Switzerland, in 2018, during one of the few matches lost by Belgium in recent years. years (5-2).

Wednesday in Louvain, the Red Devils will find precisely those Swiss who had deprived Belgium of the hope of winning the League of Nations.

The perfect opportunity for Thorgan Hazard to take the light.

© 2020 AFP