Romelu Lukaku stayed on the bench for all 90 minutes against France. It is only the 18th time in 151 caps that the national team’s record scorer has not played a single minute.
Mark van Bommel explained the choice. “I wanted pace,” he said, according to Sporza. He preferred Matias Fernandez-Pardo and felt the Devils had already produced four or five good balls in behind.
Otherwise, the manager was satisfied despite his first defeat. In his view, no player deserved less than a 7 out of 10. His only complaint concerned De Cuyper’s reaction to the goal conceded: “He tried, but you have to jump above him.”
Eighteen times out of a hundred and fifty-one. People remember the eighteen. I remember the other hundred and thirty-three. In 1980, you picked the striker, and you waited. Pace was whatever the ball had. And the marks out of ten, we read them on Monday, in the weekly, and they weren’t all 7s. I’m not criticising. I’m comparing. Well. It’s the times.
Van Bommel also spoke about the crowded international calendar, which he wants to manage sensibly. Roméo Lavia will not start the next match, despite his good performances. “It’s a strange period and every player has his own story. Look, I can’t start Roméo despite his excellent performances this Friday. I want to keep him fit. Playing him four full matches wouldn’t be good for him,” he said, according to Sporza.
He noted that France had started without their biggest stars, which in his view does not diminish the value of Belgium’s performance. The stated goal is the Euro (European Championship) in two years.
It’s true, we checked: Sporza.
