Romelu Lukaku
Photo:Federico Gambarini / dpa
Romelu Lukaku is a striker - and can do almost anything in this position. Only that is sometimes forgotten. Like after the 2-1 victory of his club Inter Milan in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Bayer Leverkusen. In his goal to make it 2-0, Lukaku was played with Bayer's central defender Edmond Tapsoba in his back - like Lukaku over 1.90 meters tall - shielded the ball and pushed it past goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky into the goal when he fell.
Hradecky then spoke of a "wall", Leverkusen's sporting director Rudi Völler had already described Lukaku as a "stunner" before the game, and SPIEGEL headlined after the game: "Leverkusen's Europa League dreams will break on Lukaku."
Lukaku reduces what is meant as praise and recognition to a quality that naturally distinguishes him, but by no means exclusively. The 27 year old Belgian is certainly tall, athletic and physically robust. Inter's triumphal march in the Europa League, which should end in the evening in the final against Sevilla FC (9 p.m. / live ticker SPIEGEL.de, Stream: Dazn), has once again proven how much more Lukaku can do.
He is not only characterized by his physique, but also by his clever approach to the opposing central defender, the precise goal closure, good technique, correct walking paths and assertiveness in dribbling.
Why is the reduction to athletics problematic at Lukaku in particular?
Lukaku has dealt with being limited to physical attributes throughout his career. Like many other black athletes, where white commentators put athleticism and speed in the foreground.
This reduction to physicality may have a racist component. The Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" wrote after the success against Leverkusen "The team is holding on to their totem Lukaku". The term totem comes from ethnology and simply means the mythical connection of a person or a group to a natural phenomenon, an animal or a plant. It's hard to imagine the white Lionel Messi being referred to as the FC Barcelona totem.
Lukaku has been confronted with racism many times in his life. In 2018, in an article for The Players Tribune, he described how as a teenager he was forced by parents of the opponent to show his passport to prove that he was really eleven years old. And was born in Antwerp. Such encounters created an anger that continues to drive him to this day. Lukaku wants to be the best, he wants to win everything. For him, every game is a final, he says in the article, whether in the park or on the big stage. Now he's in a real final.
Yes, but that's not racism at all
Racism remains a major problem in football. During his time at Inter alone, there were monkey noises from the fan curve in Cagliari against Lukaku, an insult to a TV expert or the "Black Friday" headline of "Corriere dello Sport" when Lukaku with Inter on the Roma with the also black professional Chris Smalling met. When Lukaku denounced the monkey noises, he was reprimanded by the Inter-Ultras: Yes, but that's not racism at all, but intended to distract opponents.
Even in the Belgian national team - where he is by far the record scorer - Lukaku is not accepted unconditionally. "If everything goes well, I'll be Romelu Lukaku, Belgian striker," he wrote on The Players Tribune. But if success did not materialize, he would be called "Romelu Lukaku, Belgian striker of Congolese descent". Mesut Özil also described his status in the DFB team in a similar way after his retirement as a national player.
Yes, but he missed this scoring opportunity
Lukaku comes from a poor background. His father was a national player in Zaire, the predecessor of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His brother Jordan is also a professional in Italy, at Lazio Rome. Lukaku turned pro at RSC Anderlecht at the age of 16. In 2011 he moved to Chelsea. In the Premier League he also played for West Bromwich Albion, Everton FC and Manchester United. Except at Chelsea, where he was not used regularly, he hit double digits in every league season.
And yet at some point Lukaku felt like they had to leave the Premier League. "There was always a 'yes, but'" Lukaku told the New York Times late last year. For United he scored in the European Supercup, and Lukaku describes the reactions as follows: Yes, but he missed this chance.
Manchester had signed Lukaku in 2017 for a transfer fee of 85 million euros. In two years he scored 42 competitive goals - and yet he was portrayed as the face of the club's decline. That is why Lukaku decided on a different league - and a new beginning with no sporting stress.
He had proven his versatility during his time with United on the big stage at the 2018 World Cup in Russia when he won the game for third place with Belgium. He scored a total of four goals and showed all of his game intelligence in one scene. At 3-2 in the round of 16, Lukaku paved the way for Nacer Chadli's winning goal in stoppage time with two changes of direction and a feint. It was one of the best goals of this World Cup.
Lukaku is a complete striker. Without but.
Icon: The mirror