Romelu Lukaku injured as Netherlands trounce Belgium; France, Croatia lose, too

It’s not really an international “break” per se, since the club season is over, but even a pseudo-break wouldn’t be complete without players picking up injuries. And we didn’t have to wait too long during this two-week window of mostly Nations League pseudo-friendlies, with Romelu Lukaku going down with what looked like twisted ankle (or some sort of lower leg injury) in today’s match against the Netherlands.

To add the insult to the literal injury, Belgium’s neighbors trounced them to the tune of 4-1, with Chelsea loanee Michy Batshuayi getting a late consolation in stoppage time to make the scoreline a little less awkward for the full-strength home side.

Lukaku had picked up a knock in training earlier this week, but apparently pushed to play and the coaching staff allowed him to do so. He didn’t last more than 20 minutes before re-injuring the ankle in a non-call pullback from Nathan Aké. Lukaku tried to play on, but it was clear he couldn’t.

Hopefully that’s the last we see of Lukaku on the pitch this month. Whether he stays or goes, he needs to stay healthy and fit.

Elsewhere on Friday, both France and Croatia suffered shock defeats, 1-2 to Denmark and 0-3 to Austria, respectively. N’Golo Kanté and Mateo Kovačić started for their respective nations but Andreas Christensen had pulled out of the Denmark squad. Also, César Azpilicueta played in Spain’s 1-1 draw with Portugal yesterday.