Belgium began their Euro 2024 {qualifications} in a powerful method, triumphing convincingly over Sweden on the Friends Arena in Stockholm.
In phrases of objectives scored, their victory was solely the work or Romelu Lukaku, who put the ball into the opposition web in the thirty fifth, forty ninth, and 82nd minute, and there’s no place higher to start out than the hat-trick hero.
The Lukaku conundrum
Lukaku has been the topic of quite a few articles in the media throughout Europe not too long ago. Ditched by Chelsea virtually for the second time in his profession, and that after the London Blues paid round €115 million to carry him again in from Inter Milan in 2021, he returned to Inter on mortgage forward of this season. His kind since has been nowhere close to as good as that of his earlier stint on the membership, when he helped the Nerazzurri win the 2020/21 Scudetto, and Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta has already made it clear the 29-year-old wouldn’t be staying in Milan previous the expiration of the present association, acknowledging that he merely wasn’t the identical participant anymore.
Therefore, Lukaku will return to Chelsea, however what then?
It’s not very possible that state of affairs there will likely be any totally different in phrases of him being wished at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have strengthened their attacking ranks considerably, they usually’ll virtually actually be open to gives for Lukaku’s companies. He’s been linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich not too long ago, however whether or not these rumours maintain any reality, stays to be seen.
Come what would possibly, Lukaku delivered the proper response to Marotta and everybody else who doubts his high quality in Stockholm. Yes, his first purpose was a free header and the opposite two had been fairly easy tap-ins, however an vital trait of a superb striker is to know the place to be in such conditions and to take such probabilities after they come.
Belgian wingers
There had been 4 Belgium gamers in this recreation who’re wingers by default, and whereas the soccer world is aware of loads about Leandro Trossard and Yannick Carrasco on the left, it was truly Dodi Lukebakio and Johan Bakayoko who dazzled extra, attacking from the correct.
Lukebakio began on the correct aspect of the midfield 4. He displayed spectacular capacity to beat his markers, or create house to shoot or whip in a cross, and that capacity performed the best half in the making of the primary two objectives. Further extra, the Hertha Berlin winger labored very properly with captain Kevin De Bruyne on the flank, with the Manchester City star often overlapping to supply choices for his pacey teammate.
After an hour, Lukebakio made approach for Bakayoko, and the prospect wasn’t any higher for the Swedish defence. The 19-year-old PSV Eindhoven man confirmed his abilities in the 82nd minute, making the most of a mixup between Viktor Claesson and Ludwig Augustinsson to cost down the flank and ship an ideal low ball for the unmarked Lukaku on the far submit to attain the final purpose of the match.
It feels honest to say that newly appointed Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco has choices on the attacking flanks, regardless of somebody like Eden Hazard retiring from worldwide soccer after the World Cup in Qatar.
The recreation
Looking on the massive image, the truth that Belgium deserved the total prize in this match can’t be disputed. The guests went out to assault from the beginning, dominating the proceedings with 53% possession and eight pictures in whole, in comparison with Sweden’s six.
Carrasco had a number of alternatives to attain, the primary actually massive one coming lower than six minutes in as Lukebakio and De Bruyne mixed properly on the left and the captain whipped a cross for him on the far submit, however his effort was deflected vast of the goal by Linus Wahlqvist. In the twenty sixth minute, Lukebakio discovered Arthur Theate on the far submit and the left-back despatched a looping header, forcing an acrobatic save from Robin Olsen in the Sweden purpose.
Not that Jan Andersson’s males didn’t have probabilities of their very own throughout the recreation. Belgium had been fairly shaken in the fifteenth minute, when Tottenham Hotspur’s Dejan Kulusevski broke down the correct and squeezed a shot from a good angle previous Thibaut Courtois, and the ball was creeping in when Wout Faes cleared it off the very line.
Sweden had been truly the higher staff for a portion of the sport, principally between the second and the third purpose after they actually gave all of it to try to flip issues round. In this era, Alexander Isak scuffed a shot from the sting of the field, an unmarked Emile Forsberg slipped when he ought to’ve buried a shot from round 15 yards, and the identical factor occurred to Mattias Svanberg quickly after from a really comparable state of affairs.
But when Lukaku scored the third, the sport was settled and there was no approach again for the house aspect.
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