Hazard's twist of fate

When they come wrong, soccer gives you the opportunity to redeem yourself in the time it takes for the next game to arrive. That's what happened to Eden Hazard this weekend. The 30-year-old Belgian was in the eye of the hurricane for the laughter he had with his former Chelsea teammates after Madrid's European elimination at the hands of the blues. Hazard publicly apologized on social media (“I have read many opinions about myself today and it was not my intention to offend the Real Madrid fans. It has always been my dream to play for Real Madrid and I came to win. The season is not over and together we will fight in the battle for the League. Hala Madrid! “, he wrote). Y on Sunday, against Sevilla, he achieved the greatest redemption that can be granted to a footballer: the goal. The 7 Kroos's shot deflected the trajectory to rescue a point in the extension.

Hours earlier, in the early hours of Friday to Saturday, good news for Hazard arrived from the United States. The San Diego 1904 FC, team of which he is co-owner, beat Los Angeles Force on the first day of their championship in the Californian derby of the NISA. The winning goal (0-1) was scored in the 67th minute by Diego Esquivel in the rejection of a direct free kick.

Hazard is one of the founders of the Sandieguino team, along with former footballer Demba Ba, with whom he spent a season at Chelsea and who acts as president of the club, and two other partners: Alexandre Gontran, who was the Frenchman's coach, and Vagno Chandara, a former futsal player. The four created the club in 2016 (1904 was suggested by a fan and refers to the position in the alphabet of San Diego's initials) and Since 2019, he has competed in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) founded that year and which is the third most important men's professional soccer league in the United States, after MLS and USL.. Among its clubs, the NISA has the presence of the New York Cosmos, a team in which Pelé played and where Raúl retired.

1904 FC, whose squad is made up mostly of American players, kicked off the spring season this weekend, a sort of closing tournament. San Diego team was sixth last season in fall league, finished second in spring league, whose playoffs could not be disputed due to the pandemic and resigned to play the fall of this season.