Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick as they claimed a 3-0 win over Sweden which overshadowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s much-anticipated return to worldwide soccer of their opening Group F Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday.
The win on the Friends Arena gave new Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco the proper begin as his facet search to bounce again kind a disappointing group-stage exit on the Qatar World Cup however Janne Andersson’s Sweden posed little risk.
Dejan Kulusevski thought he had given the house facet the lead within the fifteenth minute as he reduce in from the proper and drove a low shot by way of the legs of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois however Wout Faes was readily available to cease the ball crossing the road.
Lukaku broke the impasse within the thirty fifth, outjumping Hjalmar Ekdal to move residence a cross from the left by Dodi Lukebakio, who had tormented the Sweden defence from the kickoff.
The Belgium striker then took benefit of extra slack marking to double his facet’s benefit early within the second half as Lukebakio picked him out once more with a low cross which he turned in from shut vary.
The introduction of 41-year-old Ibrahimovic within the 73rd minute after an extended absence because of damage prompted an ear-splitting roar from the gang because the striker turned the second oldest participant to characteristic in a European Championship qualifier.
Ibra’s first contact of be aware got here seven minutes later as he chested the ball down within the field however he misplaced his footing on the notoriously poor pitch at Sweden’s nationwide enviornment and the prospect was snuffed out.
Three minutes later Lukaku killed the sport off as the house defence suffered one other collective collapse, leaving him with one other tap-in to finish his treble and a straightforward win for the guests.
This story has been corrected to say Ibrahimovic is the second oldest participant to characteristic, not the oldest, in paragraph 6.
This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
