Romelu Lukaku's Mental War Before the Match Against Romania (2024)

English›Romelu Lukaku's Mental War...

Belgium must score goals and win when they meet Romania. The pressure is now on Lukaku to score goals.

KOELN, FRIDAY — The defeat to Slovakia really disturbed the minds of the Belgian players, especially striker Romelu Lukaku. His two goals were disallowed after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, leaving the "Red Devils" team mired in Group E standings European Cup 2024. Lukaku is being asked for many things by the Belgian fans, mental war raging inside him.

There was almost nothing wrong with Belgium's performance in the match against Slovakia. In the match at Frankfurt Arena, Belgium dominated possession with 56 percent and created 15 shots, consisting of five shots on target, four off-target shots, and six blocked shots.

Romelu Lukaku even scored two goals even though the referee disallowed them all. Lukaku's goal in the 56th minute from a corner kick was disallowed because the AS Roma striker was in an off-side position. Lukaku's second goal in the 87th minute was also disallowed because the ball hit Lois Openda's hand before giving Lukaku an assist.

Lukaku even celebrated both of those goals with his friends, prayed, and celebrated in front of thousands of Belgian supporters. His face immediately turned bleak when VAR declared the goals invalid.

Lukaku and his teammates went home empty-handed. On social media, Lukaku became the target and was accused of being the cause of Belgium's defeat. He had several golden opportunities that failed to be converted into goals.

Following the match, veteran Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen said that he has tremendous confidence in Lukaku. "I have great faith in Romelu, there is not a single player on this team that I trust more, both mentally and in terms of quality," Vertonghen told reporters.

Vertonghen actually mentioned that Lukaku will become more motivated when pressed. "Romelu likes these moments, the pressure is on him, the focus is on him. I am confident he will find a way to score," he said.

Vertonghen's words are true. In a video interview session with The Players Tribune, Lukaku talked about his struggle to become a football player. He was often bullied before playing football on the field because of his large body. Not only by children his age, but also their parents. "That's precisely what made me want to destroy their team, and that's what happened," said Lukaku in the video.

Even at the age of 11, Lukaku once made a bet with his coach. He was upset being constantly benched and questioned about his ability. He bet that if he was given playing time, he would score 25 goals before December (end of season). If he won, he asked his coach to bake Christmas cakes for the players and wash the car that transported them to the field.

"In December I scored my 25th goal and we had Christmas cake," Lukaku said. "I want to say, don't joke around with hungry people," he expressed as they were indeed living in poverty. Lukaku shared that his mother had to mix milk with water for her breakfast before school, not to mention sleeping on the floor and living without electricity for weeks on end.

In December, I scored my 25th goal and we had a Christmas cake. Let me tell you, don't mess with people who are hungry.

"All of that changed because I promised myself and my grandfather to take care of my mother. I promised to join Anderlecht at the age of 16, and it happened. Everyone was surprised, and our lives slowly changed," says Lukaku.

With that steely mentality, losing in the opening match is nothing. The supporters' jeers over his sharpness also regularly came in and out of his ears. Especially if you remember when he was still in the Inter Milan uniform, then forced to move to Chelsea, then to AS Roma, the ridicule of Inter fans did not diminish the sharpness of the 31 year old striker.

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Lukaku is still the most fertile striker in Belgium. He has scored 85 goals in all his international competitions. During the 2024 European Cup qualifying, he scored 15 goals and was the top scorer in the 2024 European Cup qualifying session.

Belgium captain, Kevin de Bruyne, before the start of the 2024 European Cup, said that Romelu Lukaku was the key to reshaping the Belgian national team after Eden Hazard retired. "We are an old squad, but the coach has overhauled the team while relying on the seniors, especially Lukaku," he said.

In the match against Romania, De Bruyne wants his team to play with more muscle. "We did not play badly (against Slovakia). It's just that we did not score a goal. Of course, now we need to play more efficiently in the second match," he said.

Lukaku will provide a surprise despite the many doubts about him during the match against Romania on Sunday (23/6/2024) early morning Western Indonesian Time at the Koeln Stadium, Germany. Belgium also never underestimated Romania. Furthermore, the Three Colors army, Romania's nickname, was able to earn full points with three spectacular goals in the match against Ukraine.

The match against Romania is quite challenging as the statistics of the two countries' meetings are equal, each achieving five victories and two draws. Belgium is slightly superior in terms of goals, scoring 16 goals compared to Romania's 14 goals. In their last international friendly meeting on November 14th, 2012, Belgium lost 1-2 to Romania.

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Romania will make it to the round of 16 if they are able to defeat Belgium. The team led by Edward Iordanescu will be guaranteed to at least be in the top two of their group if they win and Ukraine cannot defeat Slovakia.

(AFP/AP)