Belgium captain Eden Hazard has denied there is a rift in the squad but said frank words were exchanged between the players following their surprise 2-0 World Cup Group F loss to Morocco on Sunday.
Hazard was speaking to the media along with experienced goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on Tuesday after they replaced the players originally scheduled to talk, Yannick Carrasco and Arthur Theate.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
It was a move by team management to try to quell growing speculation that a number of players have fallen out.
“We had a good talk among the players,” Hazard said. “A lot has been said. We talked for an hour about good things and less good things. Now we want to win against Croatia. We now have two days to prepare. We have to be ready.”
He added: “Nothing happened in the dressing room after the Morocco defeat. Only the manager spoke. Everything said about it is not true. We had a good meeting yesterday between the players and with the technical staff as well. We told each others a lot of things, good and bad.
