We are also grateful to all the friends and family that encouraged us along the way Your interest and sense of humour helped to keep us on track Will Doug Mills John James Pang-Oldfield and the rest of our King Edward VI friends our aunts uncles cousins the Nottingham and Montreal families and so many others thank you all Melissa we could not have done this without your understanding and support Thank you for being as excited about this collaboration as we were Iona thank you for your kindness and encouragement during long work-filled weekends Noah we’re doing our best to make football your favourite sport We look forward to reading this book with you in the years ahead Mum and Dad the biggest thank you is reserved for you You introduced us to football and then devoted hours and hours to taking us to games You bought the tickets the kits the boots We love football because you encouraged us to Thank you for all the love all the laughs and for always believing in us This book is for you 10 EDEN HAZARD
CHAPTER 1 Chelsea are Champions Stamford Bridge London 3 May 2015 Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden EDEN HAZARD Come on Chelsea At the end of the first half Willian backheeled the ball and Eden ran into the box at speed As usual there were two players marking him and as he used his skills to try to get past them they brought him down As he lay on the floor Eden looked up at the referee Penalty Cesc Fàbregas helped him back to his feet saying When you run at defenders there’s nothing they can do except foul you 11
There was no doubt which Chelsea player would take the penalty Eden was very proud of his 100 per cent scoring record and everyone expected him to make it 1 0 As he waited for the referee’s whistle with his hands on his hips he thought back to captain John Terry’s pre-game message If we win today we win the Premier League title The crowd at Stamford Bridge was completely silent everyone knew how important this goal could be It was a good thing Eden didn’t feel pressure The goalkeeper was moving around on his goal line trying to put him off Eden stepped up and shot to the right but it wasn’t as powerful as normal and it wasn’t heading for the corner The keeper saved it but the ball bounced out Eden reacted first beating the Crystal Palace defenders to head the ball into the net Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll Eden wiped the sweat off his forehead He hated missing penalties but at least he had scored the rebound There was relief in the stands too Chelsea were still on track to become champions Nemanja 12 EDEN HAZARD
Matić lifted Eden into the air and Didier Drogba gave him a big hug We can talk about that awful penalty later he joked Right now we’re forty-five minutes away from the Premier League title At the final whistle everyone celebrated Chelsea manager José Mourinho congratulated his coaches on the touchline owner Roman Abramovich punched the air with joy and the players hugged each other and formed a big circle Eden was their star but the entire team had all played really well for the whole season champions Wearing Chelsea caps and scarves they ran to the fans and clapped every single one of them for all of their support Eden loved to entertain them and they loved him for that The fans never stopped singing Blue is the colour football is the game We’re all together and winning is our aim Captain John Terry ran to Eden and gave him a massive hug We’ve done it Eden shouted to Cesc We’re 13 THE BOY IN BLUE
