Picture Credit: Twitter
Belgium suffered a heartbreaking exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022 after drawing against Croatia in their final group-stage game. One of the biggest culprits in the draw was Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who missed three big chances to score leading to the 0-0 draw. After the game, Croatian star player Ivan Rakitic had some mocking words for the Inter Milan striker.
In a video shared on his Instagram account, Rakitic ridiculed Romelu Lukaku ’s horrendous performance and offered him a free month’s holiday in Split. The former Barcelona man cheered on Lukaku and asked fans to offer a free vacation.
Taking to Instagram, Rakitic said: “Let’s go Lukaku! We have to pay him a month of vacation in Split. Let’s go!” Going back to the fixture, the Belgian Red Devils had an xG (Expected goals) of 3.07 while taking 16 shots on target. They created five big chances and missed all of them to crash out of the World Cup.
Talking about Lukaku, injuries have limited the Number nine throughout the 2022-23 season. So far he has made just five appearances in all competitions so far this season and scored two goals in that time. He expressed disappointment after the game and took a chunk of the blame as he failed to complete his job as a striker.
"Of course I'm disappointed, we're eliminated, we're out of the competition. I'm a striker and I would have liked to do my job and score, and help the team,” Lukaku said. "It's disappointing to go out like that ... Belgium had to play better. I'm not going to say that we don't deserve to be out, but we should have played better. Everything is disappointing.”
After the draw, Belgium finished third in their group allowing Croatia and Morocco to qualify from Group F. The Atlas Lions beat Canada 2-0 to finish on top of the group while the Croatians ended up with five points to clinch the second spot.