When Lukaku is the 'scapegoat'
Belgium became the first championship candidate to "fall" at EURO 2024, when coach Domenico Tedesco and his team shockingly lost 0-1 to Slovakia in the opening match of Group E.
Facing an opponent 45 places lower on the FIFA rankings (Slovakia ranked 48th, which means behind some Asian teams such as Japan, Korea, Qatar, Iran, Australia), Belgium was still completely deadlocked despite being superior in both ball possession time and number of opportunities created.
Lukaku was mocked again
After conceding a goal in the 7th minute due to Jeremy Doku’s mistake, Belgium had more than 90 minutes (including extra time) to make up for their mistake, in order to at least avoid losing their opening match. However, Belgium did not have the courage to put the ball in Slovakia’s net, despite creating 15 chances. When Belgium loses, the public needs someone to blame. There is no one more suitable than Romelu Lukaku.
The striker born in 1993 is the top scorer in the EURO 2024 qualifiers with 14 goals after 8 matches. The little "Wild Elephant" also has 11 goals in the World Cup and EURO. In the past 7 years, no one in the Belgian team has scored more effectively than Lukaku. Statistics show that Lukaku is clearly not a bad striker. But the paradox is that when the Belgian team loses, the striker who scores the most goals is the one who gets the most blame.
It is no coincidence that Lukaku is always ridiculed. He misses chances - which is the most recognizable part of football. To judge a midfielder, sometimes you have to look at the whole game. But to judge a striker, sometimes a good miss is enough. And Lukaku has no shortage of such misses.
Against Slovakia, Lukaku missed two good scoring opportunities in the first half. In the second half, the player who played for AS Roma last season put the ball in the net, but was denied by VAR, which was not his fault.
Lukaku had 2 goals denied by VAR
Lukaku was indeed unlucky, and not good at all. After the first half of the match against Slovakia ended, the press reported that the 31-year-old striker had missed 5 good chances in Belgium's last 99 minutes.
But if Lukaku is so bad (or so fans mock him), why has the last three Belgian coaches, Marc Wilmots, Roberto Martinez and Domenico Tedesco, used him?
First of all, Lukaku is still useful in other aspects. The presence of the Belgian striker always makes at least 2 defenders have to be on guard, because Lukaku is good at pressing, dribbling and fighting in the air. With Lukaku, Belgium can also easily attack directly with passes that "slap" the opponent's defense.
The yardstick for judging a striker is goals, but football is not entirely like that. France won the 2018 World Cup with a striker like Olivier Giroud who did not score, or even... not have a shot on target throughout the entire tournament.
Or Italy won EURO 2020 without a single world-class striker. Ciro Immobile will not be remembered as much as Jorginho, Federico Chiesa or Nicolo Barella, obviously. Italian strikers play a different role. In the Belgium team, Lukaku's value is not just in his goals.
The haunting of the 'golden generation'
However, let's come to the second reason which is even more frightening for Belgian football. Let's say Lukaku is bad, but Belgium also... has no better striker.
The Belgian national team once produced a "golden generation". Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Yannick Carrasco, Jeremy Doku and Lukaku himself were more than capable of creating a competitive team in any tournament.
The Belgian team is just a 'paper tiger'
But what have Belgium done in major tournaments? Eliminated in the quarter-finals of EURO 2016 and 2020, and stopped in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. Apart from the third place in the 2018 World Cup, the team nicknamed "Red Devils" only has the same achievements as a mid-level team.
The Belgian team cannot unite its stars into a true collective. The image of De Bruyne, Vertonghen and Hazard fighting in the dressing room at the 2022 World Cup highlighted the instability of Belgium. A team with many stars, but not looking in the same direction.
Belgium's most recent coaches, such as Wilmots or Martinez, were not good enough to build a consistent philosophy. Belgium almost played whatever they had, nothing special and easily fell apart in the face of difficulties. While the necessary quality of a team that wants to win the championship is the courage to not "melt" under pressure, Belgium is too weak.
And then Lukaku will continue to be blamed. But would Belgium be better off without him?
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bi-thua-do-ban-linh-kem-dung-che-cuoi-moi-lukaku-185240618172844273.htm
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