He’s been proving the doubters wrong this tournament
Romelu Lukaku earned plaudits for both his finishing and his sportsmanship during Belgium’s dismantling of Tunisia today as he scored a brace in a convincing 5-2 victory.
It has now surfaced that Belgium’s star forward could miss the team’s final group game against England, which will see the two teams battle for first place if England beat Panama on Sunday.
Manager Roberto Martinez has confirmed that the striker has suffered external ligament damage and will need to be reassessed by doctors before their next fixture.
Romelu Lukaku is a doubt for England game. Martinez says he has 'external ligament' damage on his left foot. He'll be assessed in 48 hours #eng
— Ian Herbert (@ianherbs) June 23, 2018
Lukaku was subbed off as a precaution in the 59th minute as let’s face it, why else would anyone bring on Marouane Fellaini?
Michy Batshuayi, the leading candidate to replace him should he become unavailable, did come on for Belgium after replacing Eden Hazard on 68 minutes in the second half.
He did look bright, getting himself on the scoresheet in the process but his finishing overall proved erratic as he spurned a number of good chances that came his way, including one he worked entirely himself through some gorgeous footwork.
England would obviously much rather face the Chelsea forward than Lukaku, but could actually face an easier route through the tournament should Belgium top the group depending on other results, such as Mexico beating South Korea.
Under Martinez, who has hardly set the world alight with this extremely talented Belgium squad despite Saturday’s win, Lukaku has scored a remarkable 23 goals in 20 games and is currently joint top goalscorer for the tournament alongside Ronaldo.
Unfortunately for him, he might not even be on the pitch to stop football coming home.
