It will be make or break for Belgium when they face Group E leaders Romania in their second game of the 2024 European Championships in Cologne, Germany after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Slovakia in their opening match.
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku did not have the finest of outings in that opening game. The big center-forward, who unfortunately had two of his goals ruled out for offside also spurned quite a number of great chances to get the ball into the back of the net.
Another loss in the tournament will leave the Red Devils’ Euro 2024 ambitions in severe jeopardy and to avoid that, they will need their front line, which is set to be spearheaded by Lukaku, firing on all cylinders.
The 31-year-old striker seemingly has the confidence of Domenico Tedesco with the Red Devils head coach firmly backing the forward to deliver the goods against Romania in Cologne.
“We spoke about it yesterday after training, but we always speak because he is one of the main players in the squad,” Tedesco said. “It is important what he is thinking, I ask him a lot for his opinion.
“He just needs to score one goal (and more will come), and he did in fact, twice, but they were cancelled. We all want him to score six goals from six chances, but that is not realistic, even if he has the quality to do it.”
Romania boast a 13-game unbeaten streak in competitive matches and they will pose a formidable challenge to Belgium. The Tricolorii will also be buoyed by their impressive 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their group opener heading into this one.