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Belgium forward Eden Hazard has rubbished claims of an altercation with teammate Jan Vertonghen after their 2-0 loss to Morocco on Sunday (November 27).
Rumors started doing the rounds that he was involved in a fight with the defender in the dressing room, with Romelu Lukaku having to intervene (via The Express).
However, Hazard has now come clean on the issue and denied any occurrence of a fight between the Belgian players.
Speaking to the press ahead of their crunch encounter with Croatia, he said:
"Nothing happened after the game against Morocco. The rumours? A lot of nonsense. We had a good meeting yesterday with all the players."
Commenting on Vertonghen, the Real Madrid man added:
"There were no discussions with Vertonghen in the dressing room. I did not fight with him. I'm not an idiot. He's bigger than me (laughs). I told Vertonghen 'you're not very fast anymore' and he replied that I was right."
Tensions already seemed high in the Belgian camp when Kevin de Bruyne dismissed their World Cup title aspirations, saying they are "too old" now.
It appeared to have hit a boiling point following reports of dressing room fallout between the teammates that broke out. However, Hazard's clear denial might calm things down in the press now.
Belgium on the brink of elimination in Qatar
The Red Devils saw their last 16 progression hopes deal an unexpected blow after succumbing to a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Atlas Lions.
Romain Saiss broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute before Zakaria Aboukhlal scored in stoppage time to consolidate the victory.
Roberto Martinez's side were the favorites to win the tie, which would've also confirmed their place in the next round.
However, the defeat altered the dynamics of Group F. Morocco are now in second place with four points, behind leaders Croatia on goal difference. The Red Devils are third, one point behind Morocco.
Belgium must now beat the 2018 World Cup runners-up on December 1 to reach the last 16. A draw would only be enough if Morocco lose to Canada and end up with an inferior goal difference.
Despite such uncertainty surrounding their campaign, Hazard issued a defiant message ahead of their make-or-break clash with Vatreni:
"We are all united in the group, as always. We are having a more complicated time than usual but we are ready to make the effort for each other."
Belgium face Croatia on Thursday at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan.
