England warned to expect tough approach from Panama

England have been warned to expect rough treatment against Panama after Belgium coach Roberto Martinez voiced fears of Eden Hazard being kicked out of the tournament if referees did not clamp down.

Twenty four hours after Brazil forward Neymar called for more protection after being unhappy with Switzerland’s physical tactics, Martinez bemoaned Panama’s targeting of Hazard in his side's 3-0 opening win.

The Chelsea forward was hacked down by Panama defenders Roman Torres and Michael Murillo and the five bookings collected by Hernan Gomez’s side were the most by a team in a single game since Holland in the 2010 World Cup final against Spain.

Hazard was seen leaving the Fisht Stadium with heavy strapping to his left calf and Martinez is worried players are not being looked after by referees. England face Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday.

“You could see the yellow cards were mounting,” Martinez said. “It is a worry that in any of those tackles he could get hurt. That’s a way of trying to stop him. Everyone is allowed to prepare games in the way you can. That’s part of the rules. But you run the risk of players sent off.

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“My worry is that we lose the opportunity to enjoy quality of a player like Eden. Not just for Eden. Any player with ability to take players on. We hope we get lucky in that respect.”

Hazard said Panama’s tactics came as no surprise to him. “We knew it before the game,” he said. “People say that Belgium will win every game but it’s not so simple. I think Panama have good players, strong players, they play with their qualities, that’s why we had some problems in the first half but at the end of the result is 3-0 so we are happy.”