Lukaku: I hope to return to the national team with good feelings and take on a leadership role

Since the European Championship, Romelu Lukaku has not been selected for the Belgian national team, but he expressed his hope of returning: "I hope to rediscover the passion of playing for Belgium, to make me burn again for the 'Red Devils.' The next goal is the World Cup in two years, but right now that still seems very far away."

"I really want to return to the national team with good feelings and take on a leadership role. But if we don't win, you can't expect me to be happy. That's the one thing this team lacks: the young players have come a long way, but in terms of a winning mentality, they could do better. That's something I can teach them."

Talking about the 2022 World Cup, Lukaku said: "I wanted to play for my country because the coach and the team needed me. It was the first time in 29 years that football touched me. I never thought of depression, but for weeks I cried every day. Even during vacations. Thierry Henry (who was assistant to head coach Roberto Martinez at the time) called me three times a day. My mother and children were in Milan, but I had no energy. I needed time to be alone."

"When Domenico Tedesco arrived, I thought about stopping. But he told me he needed me. So I went home, discussed it with my family, and decided to continue. After the matches against Sweden and Germany, I still had some doubts."

Lukaku also spoke about how the Courtois situation was handled: "The federation should have handled it better. At the first press conference, they should have said: 'No questions about Thibaut (Courtois) or the incident.' The coach said what he had to, but the federation should have stepped in. Now the issue is still dragging on. In which other country would something like this happen?"