"Individually, we were much stronger before, we made a lot more differences", noted Eden Hazard on Tuesday, as a disenchanted captain who already underlined the decline of his team before approaching the World Cup, echoing his own marginalization for three years at the Real Madrid.

Defeatist or simply lucid, the diagnosis was amply confirmed by the laborious victory against Canada (1-0) and by the defeat against Morocco (2-0), the first for this generation of gifted people in the group stage of a World Cup.

Because Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Axel Witsel or Romelu Lukaku were only children the last time the Red Devils came out before the round of 16 of a major tournament, at the 1998 World Cup then at the Euro-2000.

Since their advent, the Belgians have dominated the Fifa world rankings for three years, reached the quarters of the World-2014 and Euros-2016 and 2020 and took third place in the World-2018, defeated by the future blue stars.

De Bruyne wants "perfection"

And if they have not won any trophies, they have long delighted with their daring, fast and creative play, stacking 9 and 7 goals respectively during the group stages of the World Cup-2018 and Euro-2020.

Kevin De Bruyne on November 29, 2022 in Doha © Glyn KIRK / AFP

So their Qatari tumble is not just down to the scores: close to drowning in the face of opposing waves, negligent on set pieces, timorous in the relaunch and imprecise in attack, the Belgians look like the ghosts of their good years, and nothing guarantees that the return against the Croats of their star striker Romelu Lukaku, who has returned from a relapse in his left thigh, will fill all the gaps.

Even more surprisingly, their only goal scored against Canada, on a deep opening by defender Toby Alderweireld for Michy Batshuayi, upset Kevin de Bruyne, annoyed by the abuse of long balls and who sharply let Aldeweireld know as to his coach Roberto Martinez.

"I know that my reactions are not always good," admitted the Manchester City maestro two days later, admitting to being "frustrated" and "sometimes worried" about the level of play of the Belgians.

"I should show it less, even if it's perfection I'm looking for".

The grumpy and whole character of the "Diable Roux", as demanding with himself as with others and capable of playing the last Euro after a facial operation and with an injured ankle, is anything but a novelty.

"We don't create a lot"

Except that on the field, KDB misses for the hour narrowly, while Eden Hazard fights with his current limits, orienting the game intelligently and battling to keep the ball without being able to reproduce in the last third his devastating accelerations of 2018.

Thibaut Courtois on November 30, 2022 in Doha © JACK GUEZ / AFP

So the remarks of the two leaders go wrong, including when Hazard jokingly points out to the press the "slowness" of the hinge Aldeweireld (33)-Jan Vertonghen (35), yet evident for years, on the eve of Belgium-Morocco.

"A lot of things are going through my head now, but these are things that are better not to say on camera," Vertonghen replied after the match on the Sporza channel, his tone sour.

"We don't create a lot up front, almost nothing in fact. However, we have a lot of quality. Maybe also we attack badly because the guys are too old".

Faced with rumors of an altercation in the locker room, Hazard and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came to assure Tuesday that the Belgians had ironed out their differences.

"Of course, I always got on well with Jan! I wouldn't dare fight with him, he's bigger than me," laughed Hazard.

In their remote camp of Salwa Beach, where the players were delighted at the start of the tournament to be able to preserve "their bubble", the Devils offered the press a quarter of an hour of training punctuated by bursts of laughter.

With the exception of KDB and Hazard, who stretched separately, and will have to lead the revolt on Thursday.

© 2022 AFP