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Ivan Rakitic mocked Romelu Lukaku for missing several big chances in Belgium's clash against Croatia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Thursday (December 1).
Lukaku came on as a substitute against Croatia with the Red Devils needing to win to stay in the tournament. However, the striker squandered a host of opportunities. He was devastated after the game and punched his team's dugout glass.
Rakitic has now added to the Inter Milan striker's misery, saying in an Instagram video that Lukaku should get a month of vacation in Split, Croatia.
"Let’s go Lukaku! We have to give him a month of vacation in Split. Let’s go!"
Rakitic's compatriot Ivan Perisic, though, took a different approach, consoling Lukaku after the game. Speaking to FIFA+, Perisic said (via GOAL):
“I was with him for two or three minutes after the game. 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.”
Roberto Martinez's side had kicked off their campaign with a winning start against Canada. However, a loss against Morocco followed by the draw against Croatia sealed their exit from the competition, as they finished a point behind Croatia (5).
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez steps down after team's FIFA World Cup exit
Belgium's exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup didn't come without any fallouts. Roberto Martinez stepped down from the helm. He said (via The Guardian) that he would have done so even if Belgium had gone all the way in Qatar:
“That was my last game with the national team, and it’s emotional as you can imagine, It was going to be the end whether we were world champions or out in the group stage. It has nothing to do with being eliminated at this stage. This is the time for me to accept that this day is the last game.”
Martinez added:
“I took the decision just before the World Cup. I always work in the long term. I believe the long-term projects need to be long term and they need to be set in advance. As you can imagine, since 2018 I have had many opportunities to leave and take jobs at club level. I always wanted to be loyal, I always wanted to finish the job and now I don’t resign, this is the end of my contract. This was always the plan.”
Croatia, meanwhile, will face Japan in the Round of 16 on Monday (December 5) after the Asian giants unexpectedly pipped Spain to top place in Group E, beating the 2010 champions 2-1.
