Ex-Chelsea star Hazard branded ‘little fat man’ by Belgian mayor and ridiculed for scoffing burger after being subbed
EDEN HAZARD was branded a 'little fat man' in a scathing attack by a Belgian politician.
And Jean-Marie Dedecker ridiculed the winger for scoffing a burger back in 2011.
The 69-year-old, currently mayor of Middelkerke in northern Belgium, piled in on the national team captain in an interview with newspaper Krant van West-Vlaanderen reported by .
Referencing the bizarre incident when 5ft 8ins Hazard was 20, Dedecker said: "The whole press complains about him.
"Actually, he is just a little fat man who has gotten fat by the system and the money.
"I can still see him flee when Georges Leekens replaced him and had a hamburger near King Baudouin Stadium."
Hazard, then shining for Lille, had earned a starting spot for his country in their Euro 2012 qualifier against Turkey.
But when manager Leekens subbed the now-Real Madrid man off with half an hour to go, the forward reacted furiously.
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He stormed past his coach and straight down the tunnel.
But Hazard did not stop there.
With the match still going on, he left the stadium and was later pictured munching a burger at a fast-food restaurant in Brussels with the rest of his family.
The shocking pictures were splashed across newspapers in Belgium causing Leekens to dish out a two-game suspension for the star's unprofessionalism.
Hazard now sees the funny side of the story.
When asked what sauce was in the famous hamburger, he told in 2019: “It was Andalusian, it has always been my favourite sauce.
“I have some pots in London, I ask mum to bring me some back every time she comes.
“That night, I did a stupid thing but the story of the hamburger, we talk about it in a joke, it's in quotation marks what makes my legend with the selection [of Belgium].”
But the association between Hazard, 31, and food did not end there.
He was once described as the 'greediest member of Belgium’s current squad' by team chef Wym Casteleyn.
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And since signing a reported £416,000-a-week contract at Real Madrid in 2019, the attacker has twice been slammed for turning up to pre-season overweight.
He claimed to shed the five kilos in 'ten days' but Damien Duff blasted Hazard last season.
The Irishman said: "You’d worry for him going forward. He relies on sharpness, being a quick dribbler.
"He’s never been a top pro and he’s never had the drive of [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo. If he did, you’d probably be mentioning him with them two players.
"He turned up for his first pre-season at Real Madrid – Galactico, 160 million [euros] – overweight. Fat. Call it what you want.
"To be signed by Real Madrid, 160 million, you turn up to pre-season in the shape of your life.
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"And he turned up overweight because he was on holiday. I ain’t having that."
The flop has managed just five goals in 59 appearances in two-and-a-half injury-hit years since joining Los Blancos from Chelsea.
