European amazement at ‘remarkable’ Red Devils

With an impressive 5-0 win against Azerbaijan, the Red Devils capped a hugely successful qualifying campaign for the 2024 European Championship. Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku have had a stunning impact on the trajectory of the Belgian national team.

Both Red Devils have posted staggering figures, with which Lukaku and Doku also impress on the individual lists.

Lukaku and Doku’s insane numbers

Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku led the Red Devils to a 5-0 victory against Azerbaijan on Sunday evening. Lukaku showed off his tremendous goal-scoring instincts by scoring four times, needing just four attempts and achieving a remarkably low expected goals value of 0.61. Those are very impressive figures.

Doku, on the other hand, was not only involved in two assists for Lukaku, but also stood out for his flashy moves and dazzling dribbles. The Manchester City attacker performed no fewer than 19 dribbles, 15 of which were successful, and also counted another 11 accelerations with the ball at his feet.

Both Lukaku (in terms of goals) and Doku (in terms of dribbling and acceleration) were the absolute leaders among all players who played in the qualifying round for the 2024 European Championship.

Their remarkable performances not only secured victory against Azerbaijan, but also made a huge impact on the entire qualifying process.

Top scorer Lukaku exceeds all expectations

Romelu Lukaku is currently the authoritative top scorer of the recent qualifying campaign with an impressive total of 14 goals.

With this he leaves other top players behind him, such as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, 10 goals), Kylian Mbappé (France, 9 goals), Harry Kane (England, 8 goals), Rasmus Hojlund (Denmark, 7 goals) and Scott McTominay (Scotland, 7 goals).

France, England and Denmark each have one match left, but the title of top scorer still seems to be as good as secured for Lukaku. Remarkably, Big Rom literally exceeded expectations with its 14 goals in the qualifying round for the 2024 European Championship.

His total expected goals value was ‘only’ 6.87. This means that the actual goals scored by him were more than double what would be statistically expected.

Dribbling wonder Doku embarrasses everyone

Romelu Lukaku has established himself as an undisputed strongman in the national team over the years, and in the recent qualifying campaign he reaffirmed his status.

The impressive talent and qualities of Jérémy Doku have been beyond dispute for years, and during the qualifying round he emerged as the big revelation for the Red Devils.

He has mainly done this through countless dribbles and explosive accelerations. In the last campaign, Doku has completed an impressive 99 dribbles, which equates to an impressive average of 20.72 dribbles per match.

He combined these many dribbles with an average of 9 accelerations with the ball at his feet per match. In both categories, Doku is authoritatively at the top, underscoring his dominant role over all the players who played in the qualifying round for the 2024 European Championship.

Superlatives are in short supply for Lukaku and Doku

The strong performances of Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku were extensively covered in the press. “If Romelu Lukaku and his assistant Jérémy Doku are top, then this Belgium is a steamroller,” wrote The newspapaer.

The newspaper brought out superlatives for Lukaku: “The powerhouse, the thump, the hurricane Romelu Lukaku. Big Rom is a phenomenal phenomenon.” And also for the younger Jérémy Doku:

“The spotlights in the King Baudouin Stadium are now shining first on Jérémy Doku. The (young) crowd starts waving and oohing whenever the winger even touches the ball. If this was Cirque de Soleil then Doku was the fire breather who set the stadium on fire.”

The last news did not stay behind and wondered what superlatives remain for the AS Roma attacker. “Fantastic. Grandiose. Awesome. What he shows time and time again in the shirt of the national team… It takes on more than impressive proportions.”

Marc Degryse called it the great Romelu Lukaku show. “The powerhouse, the thud, the hurricane Romelu Lukaku. Big Rom is a phenomenal phenomenon.” The last news called Doku a 9 on the Beaufort scale. “A whirlwind.”