All posts tagged: Romelu Lukaku

how Rudi Garcia rebuilt Belgium

how Rudi Garcia rebuilt Belgium

Published by Webster

Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí had yet to kick a ball. Gavi and Nico Williams had only just joined their local academies. Captain Rodri was on the verge of being released by Atlético Madrid’s youth setup for lacking the necessary physicality. None of Spain’s 26-member World Cup squad had made a professional appearance when Rudi Garcia won his last trophy, the 2010/11 Ligue 1, and can be forgiven for knowing little of Belgium’s manager. The Belgians didn’t know much, either. They do now. The resentment at his appointment in January 2025 was not baseless. He has won only two titles in over two decades as a manager. His immediate predecessor was Domenico Tedesco: young, new ideas, and the only coach to win the DFB-Pokal with RB Leipzig. Tedesco sold dreams, and then delivered nightmares. Amid rifts and disagreements, Belgium imploded early. Before him was Roberto Martinez. He was entrusted with a cohort of talent ranked first in the world, the famed ‘Golden generation’ that promised exactly what its name implied. Gold. Bronze was the closest …

Over 9000 fans rush to ‘Sorry Rudi’ website to apologise to Belgium boss after dramatic World Cup win over Senegal

Over 9000 fans rush to ‘Sorry Rudi’ website to apologise to Belgium boss after dramatic World Cup win over Senegal

Published by Webster

The restless Belgium manager who is tasked with defending his talented but goal-shy stars like Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne, as also the on-field hell-raisers Trossard and Tielemans, is getting some belated adoration. Reason: Belgium’s unlikeliest of comebacks against Senegal to win 3-2. Garcia, the 62-year-old coach of the Red Devils (a not well known name), has been dissed on for everything: his players are washed, his players are old, his players argue and fight, his players like Lukaku don’t play when needed, his players waste own talent and Belgium’s time. And he defends them like Antwerp diamonds. He also scribbles notes on random loose sheets of paper, wearing a ridiculous red thin tie and a cap at times. The Frenchman copped intense criticism deep into the Senegal game when he seemed to be heading into a disaster, before the team emerged to fight back against the African champions. Garcia has left things till late, assured that Lukaku will do his things and opponents will wilt under Belgian pressure if it’s kept up. For …

Which version will turn up against the USA?

Which version will turn up against the USA?

Published by Webster

Romelu Lukaku mastered the art of deception when he was young. In 2026, Belgium reaching the World Cup round of 16 — where they will face the USA — feels almost routine. In 2002, it was anything but. Four years after the embarrassment of France ’98, Belgium emerged unbeaten from the group stage. Leading the lines were Marc Wilmots — whom the nation admired, and Mbo Mpenza — whom Lukaku admired, considering he was Belgium’s first black striker at a World Cup and, like Lukaku, had his roots in Congo. Students at an Antwerp school, hence, had only one topic to discuss during the summer of ’02 — the World Cup. They dissected Belgium’s performances, marvelled at Wilmots’ goals and discussed whether Brazil could be stopped. There was only one problem. Lukaku had not watched a single minute. His father might have played in the World Cup qualifiers and AFCON for Zaire, but there was barely any money to eat twice a day. Television, hence, was a luxury. His friends would not know that, though. …

Belgium script record 3-2 comeback to sink Senegal in World Cup R32

Belgium script record 3-2 comeback to sink Senegal in World Cup R32

Published by Webster

3 min readJul 2, 2026 06:29 AM IST There were only seconds left on the clock before the final whistle would have blown to signal the shoot-outs. Senegal had slipped late in regulation time, squandering a two-goal lead over Belgium. But all hope wasn’t lost until Lamine Camara erred by bringing down Youri Tielemans in the box. The Belgian captain was pivotal in taking the game to the additional 30 minutes after scoring an 89th-minute equaliser, three minutes after Romelu Lukaku struck the first.  This time, he smeared the ball to the top right, leaving Senegal with no air to even sniff of a comeback, marking a sensational Belgian turnaround to make the Round of 16 in Seattle on Wednesday. Tielemans’ winning penalty will be one for the record books — the 124:44-minute strike is the latest goal ever struck in World Cup history. ALSO READ | Harry Kane breaks Congo resistance with sublime brace as England enter last 16 Habib Diarra and ​Ismaila Sarr had given Senegal a deserved 2-0 lead, and they looked to …

The sister who made Belgium’s Amadou Onana fearless before Senegal

The sister who made Belgium’s Amadou Onana fearless before Senegal

Published by Webster

Amadou Onana’s first memory of Belgium is an inflatable mattress, he wrote in the Players’ Tribune. His mother had brought him and his three-year-old sister from Senegal to Brussels on a Belgian passport inherited through his father, to an apartment with no furniture and no heat, and for the first weeks she slept on a small couch so the two children could have the mattress to themselves. Onana was eleven. Before any of that, in Dakar, Senegal, there was a grandfather. A big brown chair nobody else was allowed to sit in. A terrace room where the old man went to read the Quran or the newspaper, and where Onana, uniquely, was always welcome. Wolof was the first language Onana ever spoke, ahead of French. Senegal never once called him up, not even at youth level. Belgium is the only country that ever asked. Tonight, in Seattle, confirmed in the starting midfield, he plays Senegal for the first time in his career. ALSO READ | Mexico’s Quiñones: Faced racism, nearly joined guerrillas but now national …