Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Thursday October 17, 2024 at 10:20 p.m.
Romelu Lukaku (31) is not sure if he will put on the Belgian team jersey again.
During the international break, Belgium was again beaten by the France team (1-2), in Brussels in the League of Nations. A new defeat against the Blues after that of September (0-2) in Lyon. After 4 matches played in the competition in Group 2 of League A, the Red Devils are 3rd with 4 points, clearly behind the Blues (9 pts) and Italy (10 pts). These 4 matches, Belgium played them with Loïs Openda at the forefront of their attack and without Romelu Lukaku. The striker transferred to Naples this summer, has not been called up for selection since Euro 2024 and the defeat against France, again, in the round of 16 (0-1), on July 1.
Lukaku: “I will only come back if I have a good feeling”
At 31, the robust center forward with 119 caps (85 goals) may have finished with the Red Devils. This is what he expressed on the “Koolcast” podcast of “Friends of Sports”. “I hope I can rediscover my passion for the Devils. At the moment, after the Euro, it’s difficult. The next national team goal is the World Cup, which is only 2 years away. It’s a long time. I will only come back if I have a good feeling. In this case, I will return to a leadership role, but you can’t expect me to be happy when we don’t win. On a football level, this group is already very far, but it does not yet have a real winning mentality,” confided Lukaku, author of 3 goals in 5 Serie A matches with Napoli, leader of the Championship after 7 days.
“I never thought it was depression, but I cried every day, for weeks and weeks”
The Belgian also spoke of the period of depression he went through after the 2022 World Cup played in Qatar and ended pitifully by the Red Devils (eliminated in the first round). “After 4 months of absence, I did everything to be there for Belgium, even if I risked another tear. I felt very bad when I went into the game against Morocco. And against Croatia, I missed 4 big chances. Afterwards, all my frustration came out. For the first time in 29 years, football really touched me. I never thought it was depression, but I cried every day, for weeks and weeks. Even on vacation. Thierry Henry rang my bell 3 times a day. I no longer watched football on TV. My mom and the kids were in Milan, but I didn’t have the energy to join them. I had to be alone,” said Romelu Lukaku, who had already thought about giving up the selection. “When Tedesco became a coach and he visited me, I wanted to tell him that I was stopping. But he told me he needed me. I even hesitated again after his first 2 matches, in Sweden and Germany, but I still said yes. » Will he say yes again in 2025?
