Recently, Lukaku opened up on the podcast "Friends of Sport" about his absence from the Belgian national team and shared his journey and expectations for the future.
Since the European Cup, Lukaku has not been selected for the Belgian national team. In this regard, he expressed his strong desire to return to the national team: "I am eager to rediscover the passion to play for Belgium, so that the flame of the 'Red Devils' is once again burning in my heart. Although the next goal is the World Cup in two years, but at the moment it seems to be out of reach."
Lukaku also revealed his desire to return to the national team as a leader: "I truly hope to return to the national team with full enthusiasm and the responsibility of leadership. But we have to understand that winning is the yardstick for everything. If the team can't win, then I can't be happy. The only thing this team lacks is a winning mentality, and the young players have come a long way, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. And that's what I hope to impart to them."
Speaking about the 2022 World Cup, Lukaku's tone was filled with emotion: "I was eager to play for my country because the coach and the team needed me. At that moment, soccer really touched my heart, an experience I hadn't had in 29 years. I never thought I would fall into depression, but during that time I cried almost every day, and I couldn't get rid of that emotion even when I was on vacation. Thierry Henry (then deputy to manager Roberto Martinez) would call me three times a day to try and comfort me. My mother and children were in Milan, but I was unable to care for them. I needed to face it all alone and find inner peace."
Lukaku also mentioned a turning point in his career, "When Tedesco arrived, I considered giving up. But he told me he needed me. So I went home and talked to my family and decided to move on. However, after the games in Sweden and Germany, I still had doubts."
In addition, Lukaku gave his opinion on the handling of the Courtois incident: "The FA should have handled the situation more properly. In the first press conference they should have explicitly forbidden questions about Thibaut (Courtois) and this incident. The coach has expressed his position, but the FA's intervention and guidance is equally important. Now, the fact that this matter is still dragging on is incomprehensible. How would such a situation be handled in other countries?"
