After having been criticised by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho last season for not putting 100% into his team effort Belgium national team coach Marc Wilmots is echoing the Portuguese manager’s words saying: “Eden can be one of the best five players in the world.
“He has everything he needs, it’s now up to him to release the handbrakes and go.
“He’s 23 and has already shown what he can do. But he won’t be able to do it alone. Everyone, including him, has to sacrifice himself for the collective.
“I have replaced ‘I, I, I’ with ‘we, we, we’.”
The Belgium manager is aware of the potential he has at his disposal as Belgium prepares to kick off their World Cup campaign against Algeria on Tuesday but is not happy with his team being called the “Golden Generation.”
He added: “I’ll only accept the term when we achieve something.
“We haven’t even made the first step yet. But we are a nation of just 11 million and I’ll have no regrets if it doesn’t work out.”
There is however a quiet confidence in the Belgium camp with Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany confident that Belgium can make a good impression saying: “This is the first World Cup for most of us, but I’ve been with this group for 10 years and we all get on really well. We haven’t been to a World Cup for a long time and whatever happens I’ll remember it forever.
“For all of us in the Premier League, there have been no difficulties making the transition.
“We’ve known each other all the way up from youth level.
“No conclusions should be drawn from the first game, but I have high ambitions and really want to fulfil my dream of going a long way.”
