Lukaku's commotion in the second half of the game made Belgium's exit a little more absurd, but at the moment of the final whistle, when the black man of 1.9 meters and more than 200 pounds collapsed like a child in the arms of assistant coach Henry and cried, fans around the world could not help but feel sad.
As the British "Guardian" described, "The Belgian golden generation has failed to achieve what they wanted, Martinez will leave the national team after this game, and Hazard, De Bruyne and Courtois may never return to the World Cup stage." ”
Lukaku collapsed in Henry's arms crying.
It was the curtain call for the golden generation and their last chance at the World Cup. If four years ago they lost by one goal to the final champion France, although they were defeated, now they can only leave the world with a lonely back.
Of course, even if the journey is lackluster, if Romelu Lukaku can seize every opportunity, it will still be Belgium who will advance – and from this point of view, such a story is undoubtedly too cruel for a generation of talented players.
Infighting is a tradition of the Belgian team.
Infighting, familiar atmosphere
In fact, before the start of the World Cup, there was a less positive atmosphere around the Belgian team.
Speaking about the national team, Vincent Kompany said: "The players are under extra pressure because everyone thinks this is the last World Cup for those players. "But Belgium's arrival surprised everyone.
With a 1-0 win over Canada in the first round, the World Cup runner-up was beaten by Canada, who reached the World Cup finals after 36 years - 9-22 shots on goal, 6-17 shots in the box, especially if not for Courtois saving Davis' penalty.
In addition to the lack of energy on the field, Belgium off the field is also a bit worrying. De Bruyne, who was awarded the best of the match, said bluntly: "I don't feel like I've played a good game, I don't know why I got this trophy, maybe it's because of my fame. ”
De Bruyne was straightforward enough, but after the team struggled to win the opener, his remarks were somewhat annoying.
And that's not all, at the post-match press conference, Kevin De Bruyne publicly expressed his thoughts about his club, "We can't play like Manchester City, does that frustrate me sometimes? Yes. ”
The core players continued to block the whole team and began to smell dangerous smells from the outside world. Belgium then faced Waterloo, and against Morocco, they had 67% of the possession, 9-1 corners, 10-10 shots, but only lost 2-0.
De Bruyne misses his team-mates at Manchester City immensely.
De Bruyne isolated?
Even more embarrassing, the media also untimely exposed a pre-World Cup interview with De Bruyne, in which De Bruyne said that "the whole team is too old to be able to make a difference in the World Cup".
There is no possibility that the fuse that has already been lit can be cut off... Defense general Wiltonheim immediately retorted, "I have a lot of things in my mind that should not be said in public. ”
The two big guys in front of the team have openly fought each other, the only one in the round of 32, but this situation is really just the tip of the iceberg of civil unrest in Belgium.
The Post revealed that De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Vertonghen had a fierce quarrel after losing to Morocco, and several people were emotional, and Lukaku on the side couldn't stand it, so he pulled them away.
Although the Belgian team claims that the media are all nonsense, but whether it is true or false, netizens have their own judgment.
De Bruyne in the photo appears to be isolated.
In a pre-match cheering photo posted on the official account of the Belgian national team, all the Belgian players gathered in a circle, listening to Lukaku's mobilization speech, the other players were bent down and put their shoulders on each other's shoulders, only De Bruyne was standing alone, and no teammates wanted to put their shoulders with him...
The Manchester City midfielder has apparently been isolated by his previous speech, so it's not hard to understand why Belgium would lose against Morocco...
Coincidentally, Courtois also tweeted with the same photo, accompanied by the text "together", which caused netizens to joke.
Assistant coach Henry comforts players after the game.
Football is also human
Belgium was not a team known for its unity because of the large number of immigrants and the dressing room faction.
In addition, there are some special reasons that make many players unable to become friends at all - such as De Bruyne and Courtois, because of an off-field emotional conflict in their youth, they have not spoken to each other for many years.
Romelu Lukaku and Batshuayi are also not friendly with players playing in the same position, and Eden Hazard and Trossard are also strangers...
There are so many discords in this team that you can put aside your preconceptions while the team is still winning, and when the game becomes unsmooth or even falls into adversity, this fragile team relationship can quickly fall apart.
Eden Hazard is not in good shape.
A number of football legends have disputed De Bruyne's statement, with Liverpool legend Souness stating: "You can have that idea, but you don't have to say it. ”
Zabaleta also told De Bruyne, "If you just complain, the game will be difficult to play, that's not the mentality you should have." ”
It seems that De Bruyne spends too many brain cells on how to pass the ball, but football is not a fight and kill, but also a human affair.
It is also possible that the tension in the squad can no longer be concealed, and De Bruyne simply broke the jar, after all, manager Martinez also confirmed: "There are some problems in the team. ”
The Belgian golden generation is over 30 years old.
Really too old
Of course, no matter how brainless De Bruyne speaks, the Belgian core is indeed old.
Aldereverd 33, Vertonghen 35, Witsel 33, Muunier 35, Mertens 35, Hazard the Great 31, De Bruyne 31...
In a life-and-death battle with Croatia, Belgium's average starting age is 31 years and 95 days, which sets the record for the "oldest" starter since Australia at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Italian legend Bergomi said: "For teams that have always been older overall, once the pace of play picks up, they will struggle. ”
The main players have passed or are passing the final peak, and the internal contradictions are constantly intensifying, and it is difficult to win.
To be fair, Belgium did not give up on the decisive battle with Croatia, and they still want to make a last-ditch effort. In this match, both teams of the same age gave their best, with Croatia having eight players running more than 10,000 meters and Belgium having six running more than 10,000 meters.
In addition, Belgium possessed 52% to 48%, shot 16-11, corners 5-0 - in order to qualify, Belgium have given everything they have to create a great chance far ahead of the first two games, or did they not win the game? The spearhead of the whole network will probably point to Lukaku.
Romelu Lukaku wasted four must-score chances.
Romelu Lukaku's struggle
Romelu Lukaku came off the bench in the second half and wasted four must-score chances to become the player who wasted the most absolute chances since the start of the World Cup.
Romelu Lukaku equalled Kylian Mbappe on the "Spit Charts", and it all happened in a short 30-minute period between the 60th and 89th minutes.
Lukaku pulls his crotch? In fact, Romelu Lukaku has been injured and has played only 31 minutes since August, and he played 10 minutes off the bench in the second round of the World Cup, but only three touches in those 10 minutes.
To some extent, Romelu Lukaku has worked hard enough, and his appearance has given Belgium an overwhelming advantage on the field, but in the absence of physical recovery, Lukaku's imperfect technical details have accidentally exposed his weaknesses.
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Romelu Lukaku smashed the stadium glass. Video Editor Xu Chuli (00:20)
After the game, an annoyed Lukaku broke the fence window on the side of the seat, suspected of "destroying public property".
Romelu Lukaku's performance is like a microcosm of the entire Belgian team, famous but defeated, although there is still the idea of qualifying, but has lost the ability and fortune to qualify.
Speaking on the BBC programme, former Premier League midfielder Jenas said: "Belgium put everything (energy) last, but this is a team where players are distracted, they can look in the mirror and see themselves, they are not good enough and Croatia's experience has left them out. ”
In fact, with 33 shots on goal and only 1 goal in 3 games, such a team certainly does not deserve to qualify.
It's just that the golden generation said goodbye to the world in such a way, which is really embarrassing.