As if things couldn't get any worse for Romelu Lukaku, former Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic has now weighed in on ridiculing the Belgium striker for his performance at World Cup 2022.
Lukaku missed a host of gilt-edged chances against Croatia during the final Group F match of World Cup 2022, with the game finishing 0-0. Belgium needed to beat Croatia to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament, but their draw confirmed the nation's elimination.
Consequently, Lukaku needed consoling by assistant manager Thierry Henry, clearly overwhelmed at exiting the tournament so early and disappointed in missing clear-cut chances.
That sadness soon turned to anger, though, with the 29-year-old then proceeding to punch the glass out of the Belgium dugout.
Croatia go through to the last-16 at Belgium's expense as a result of the draw, and former midfielder Ivan Rakitic took to Instagram to share his delight.
"Let’s go Lukaku!" he said. "We have to pay him a month of vacation in Split. Let’s go."
Rakitic, who retired from international football in 2020 after playing 106 times for Croatia and taking them to the World Cup final in 2018, then proceeded to blow a kiss to the camera at the end of the video - clearly ecstatic that Lukaku had failed to score in the game.
Ivan Perisic played for Croatia against Belgium, and had a slightly different view to Rakitic. Indeed, Perisic and Lukaku played together at Inter Milan, and he expects the striker to bounce back.
“I was with him for two or three minutes after the game," he told FIFA+. "This is football, once you score, another time you miss. He’s a really strong player. Now I hope he can win as many trophies as possible with the Inter shirt.
“For us the most important thing was to pass the group. We played a good game, as did they. But I think, considering the three games, we deserved to go ahead in this World Cup.”
