The first big surprise of EURO2024 was Belgium’s loss to Slovakia, which worried the fans who had already given up on their ambitions for the highest ranking. But they didn’t really expect this. Although maybe they could have guessed? It’s not exactly the first time Romelu Lukaku has been the subject of witty remarks on social media.##NAJAVA_MECA_8167923##”Tupac would have turned 53 today if Lukaku had been the shooter” is one of the more popular montages mocking the corpulent striker.And although there is sometimes exaggeration, Lukaku himself gave them a reason. And the rest of the team did not shine either. It sounds incredible that Belgium did not use any of the last 47 shots on goal in two major competitions, since at the World Cup in Qatar they did not shake the net of Morocco and Croatia – which is why they were eliminated in the group – and now here the disappointment came against Slovakia.They all missed, but no one like Lukaku. The goal machine from Manchester United and Inter Milan, who scored a combined 120 goals in these clubs, has completely shut down in recent years, especially in the national team’s jersey.Openda’s handball is where we should draw the line. No, not that lineWhen you look at his second half against Croatia and the first against Slovakia, the Belgian had 26 touches of the ball, six shots, six big missed chances in 99 minutes on the field and – no goals. The expected goals stat, which is not the favorite of football fans, says that Lukaku should have scored at least two (2.32 xG). Once again: he scored none. Although one gets the impression that in such positions any reader of this portal would have put at least one ball into the net. Here is a reminder of what he missed against Croatia.Not even luck was on Lukaku’s side at the opening of the European Championship. And when he finally managed to put the ball into the net, VAR technology prevented him from scoring twice in this match.Even the coach of the Belgian national team, Domenico Tedesco, did not lay the blame on individuals.”We had many chances, we pressed for the whole 90 minutes. Lukaku is strong, mentally strong. I want to be a fair loser and I trust the referees when it comes to disallowed goals,” concluded Tedesco.That sounds nice and all but the question remains, will Lukaku manage to regain his confidence and finally remind everyone of the centre-forward everyone feared?If Lukaku was the shooter Tupac would have turned 53 yesterday. pic.twitter.com/yhmqMtXjsZ— vincentgodisafacade (@vincentgodisaf1) June 17, 2024
