Lukaku explains Belgium goal drought

Romelu Lukaku hasn’t managed an international goal for Belgium since the World Cup two years ago, but he insists he has a different role for his nation than for club side Everton.

The striker has 23 goals in 35 appearances in all competitions for Everton this term but he says finding the back of the net isn’t his main objective for Belgium.

Lukaku says his role for FIFA’s top-ranked team is to act as a foil for his fellow attackers, rather than simply to provide the goals.

“The role that I have with Belgium is not at all like the one I have here [Everton],” he is quoted as saying by The Mirror.

“Here everything is directed towards me, in the last 30 metres but also on the rest of the pitch.

“My team-mates wonder all the time: ‘Where is Romelu? OK, he is over there. We are going to play with him’.

“In the national team, we also play 4-2-3-1 but we are a lot more stationary. And when you see Eden [Hazard], Kevin [De Bruyne] or Dries [Mertens] playing for their clubs [Chelsea, Manchester City and Napoli respectively], there is a lot more movement.

“You analysts, you say, ‘The strikers don’t score enough.’ But for Belgium, the role of attackers is not to score. You are, in reality, a pivot.

“It’s the coach who says what we have to do. I cannot tell Eden, Kevin, Yannick [Ferreira Carrasco of Atletico Madrid] or Dries how they should play.

“We do what the coach says. I can’t just tell them how we do it at Everton.”

Belgium are 11.00 to win Euro 2016 outright this summer and 2.00 to win Group E, having been drawn alongside Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden.