Lukaku pulled off his worst nightmare and Vertonghen backed him up

Used to increasing his scoring statistics every weekend at clubs like Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter or Roma, Romelu Lukaku He was stuck in big international matches, where he experienced a real nightmare in front of goal which damaged his credibility in Belgiumagain suffering from its absence in the team’s dynamic debut Domenico Tedesco in the view of Slovakia (0-1 loss). Your partners Jan Vertonghen He showed his support.

Lukaku lived another fateful night. Like in the finals of the Champions League they lost with Inter against Manchester City in 2023; or as usual Croatiain the final group stage match of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and thereafter Belgium He had to leave the competition. His failures in those two duels, a mixture of lack of success and bad luck, hung Lukaku the official poster of the jinx with which many fans mocked, in recent times, the most important scorer in the history of the Belgian team.

Tedesco did not stop trusting the attacker Rome, who this season has accumulated 21 goals in the 47 official games he has played this season. He outdid himself after two poor seasons, in which he scored 14 with the Inter in 2022-23 and 15 inclusive Chelsea in 2021/22. However, he is far from his best marks of his career (30 and 34 with Inter in the 2020-21 and 2019-20 campaigns, respectively).

With those numbers, his coach did not hesitate to give him the title at the premiere of Belgium to Lukaku. However, his famous performance against Croatia and Manchester City They are floating in the atmosphere. Social networks are on fire. Many expected another false appearance of Lukaku against Slovakia. Or, if not erratic, marked by bad luck and jinx. And they got their prize for generating ‘memes’ and satire.

Against Slovakia the jinx returned

Lukaku He missed three called goals. One, after three minutes, when he found the ball almost under the goal that everything was in his favor to finish and it crashed against the goalkeeper of Slovakia; the second, out of five, in a heads-up he wasted against Martin Dubravka; and the third, on the brink of half time, after a terrible control that left him with no options to take advantage of a good pass from Yannick Carrasco.

And on top of that, when he finally got it right, he was condemned by the referee’s decisions. He scored in the 56th minute, but offside; and also in ’86, but a previous hand of Doc detected by the technology established by UEFA, their celebration was ruined. again, Lukaku, he seems jinxed.

Photos of his previous performances immediately surfaced. His errant header in the Champions League final that could have increased the tie on the scoreboard against City of Manchester; or his unexpected appearance to become a defender of the English team after a shot was cleared from Dimarco towards the team’s goal Pep Guardiola.

It’s more dramatic because of the number of movies he’s starred in Croatia in the match that eliminated Belgium from the previous World Cup. Then directed by Robert Martinez, the Belgian team is just one goal away from reaching the round of 16. He did not succeed because Lukaku missed all kinds of opportunities and all colors: he missed a header below the goal line; also with the odd shot in the gut from point-blank range; He patented a luxurious semi-conference to miss another almost inside the goal; and the carousel ended with a shot that hit the post when he had everything to score.

There the myth of the jinx was born. The mistakes in the Champions League finals may have been coincidences, but those Croatia He had given himself a label that he was unable to shake off. And more after his new performance against Slovakia wherein Belgium lost in its European Championship debut in Germany. However, his coach later defended the forward of Rome.

“Lukaku is playing for Belgium for a long time and knows very well how to score goals. He’s a top-level player, with great character and he doesn’t need any help in that regard. Everyone has failed, but I think we can take advantage of it and take advantage of this loss. We couldn’t win the game, but there are positive things we can take away,” he said. Tedesco at a press conference.

Now, the Italian coach has to fight against the jinx of Lukakuthat there will be one more chance to get rid of that shame before Romania in his team’s second match in the Euro Cup. However, as an important appointment comes up for Belgium, Lukakuafter crashing against Slovakiayou have to scare the nightmares out of your head. City and Croatia who resurrected to Slovakia. His goal, to scare off a fourth bad night that would end his credibility.

Vertonghen has faith in Lukaku

Vertonghen, 37 years old and now in Anderlecht, said about forward of Rome: “I have a lot of confidence in Romelu, both from a mental and a quality point of view. He likes pressure and knows how to get ahead.” And the player who played the most matches in the Belgian team added: “I thought so Lukaku “He will be more motivated with the pressure he has on him.”