Chelsea star Eden Hazard has admitted that losing the FA Cup final to Manchester United would set him up for a tough summer as his international team-mates will remind him of it constantly while at the World Cup in Russia.
Belgium, who are in England World Cup group, have a huge amount of players currently plying their trade in the Premier League.
Hazard is obviously concerned by the ribbing he will have to take from United midfielder Marouane Fellaini and striker Romelu Lukaku if his side fail to beat the Old Trafford club at Wembley on May 19.
“It’s always nice to play against friends, but we will have to win that game otherwise I’ll have to hear [about it] during the World Cup.” he said.
“It’s up to us now to prepare that game well. After the Premier League we’ll have time to focus on the final, we are playing for the trophies.”
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Chelsea also reached the final of the Cup last season but were surprisingly beaten by and an unfancied Arsenal team 2-1.
However, Hazard is confident that the Blues January signing Olivier Giroud, who scored a superb solo goal against Southampton in the semi-final, can use his excellent record of scoring big goals in the FA Cup to inspire the Stamford Bridge club to victory.
“I hope that we will win it this time – last year we sadly lost the final. But we have Olivier Giroud now. He often wins finals. Certainly the FA Cup.”