Can Romelu Lukaku Lead Belgium to World Cup Success with Benteke Injured?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 3, 2014

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Aston Villa, Belgium and Christian Benteke himself were all left devastated on Thursday when news broke that the striker would miss six months with an Achilles tendon injury.

As per BBC Sport, the 23-year-old striker suffered the injury in training and will now require surgery, meaning he sits out the remaining weeks of the Premier League season—and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil for his nation.

Many viewers have tipped Belgium's talented young squad to peak at this tournament and believe they could trouble the favourites in the latter stages—Oddschecker.com rank them at fifth-favourites to win—but they will now rely on Romelu Lukaku to lead the attacking line instead.

 

Lukaku at International Level

Belgium aren't going to be left with an inexperienced forward leading the line; despite Lukaku being three years younger than Benteke, he actually has more caps, 27 to the Villa man's 18, though Benteke leads six to five in the goals scored column.



Though Lukaku hit two goals for Belgium in 2010, the year he made his international debut, he has only added a further three in the four years (and 19 caps) since then, so it has been far from a smooth progression.

However, the fact that he was a senior international while still in his teens must be taken into account, and the Lukaku who spent most of 2011-12 on the Chelsea bench is not the same forward seen most weeks for Everton these days; he is more confident in his own ability, much more aggressive and a more consistent all-round player after two years of regular game time.

 

Lukaku vs. Benteke

The Belgian forwards have enjoyed, or endured, stop-start campaigns in 2013-14.



The graphic above shows how they have fared in the Premier League, with Belgian wide forwards Eden Hazard and Kevin Mirallas added in for further insight and compari...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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