Romelu Lukaku has appeared to be on a mission since the start of the season to demonstrate to Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, the folly of sending him out on loan this season.
The striker has made an immediate impact for Everton in the Premier League, and he was on target again yesterday, this time at international level as he scored two very important goals for Belgium.
His first-half strikes helped the Belgians defeat their Group A qualification rivals Croatia 2-1 to guarantee a spot in Brazil next summer, their first trip to the World Cup finals 2002.
Belgium are the third European nation after Italy and the Netherlands to secure their place in the finals.
Belgium went into the game in Zagreb knowing that a draw would be enough to win Group A thanks to their five-point lead over the hosts, but Marc Wilmots’ side did not sit back and chased the Croatians from the start.
Lukaku opened the scoring in the 15th minute as he calmly rounded the Croat goalkeeper, Stipe Pletikosa, and tapped the ball into the empty net.
Seven minutes from half-time, he found space on the right flank as Belgium went forward on the counter-attack.
Though his first effort was blocked by Pletikosa, Lukaku reacted first to the loose ball to score again as he rolled the ball over the line.
In driving rain, it was Belgium who continued to force the pace and they spurned a number of opportunities to put the game completely out of the home side’s reach.
But Niko Kranjcar’s fierce drive seven minutes from time gave Croatia hope of staging a dramatic late revival, but the Belgians calmly played out the remaining minutes and players and staff charged onto the pitch at the final whistle to celebrate their triumph, which means they can enjoy their final group game in Scotland on Tuesday with nothing at stake.
In yesterday’s other early games, Armenia produced a surprise 2-1 victory over Bulgaria to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for the play-offs in Group B.
The Bulgarians, who had started the day in second place, had been in severe straits after Nikolay Bodurov had been shown a red card in the first half.
Aras Ozbiliz then put the Armenians ahead in the 45th minute.
But the Bulgarians overcame their numerical disadvantage to level 15 minutes after the restart, as Ivelin Popov found the net.
But Bulgaria’s hopes were given a further blow as they were reduced to nine men moments later, when Svetoslav Dyakov was dismissed after picking up his second yellow card.
Yura Movsisyan then struck with three minutes left for Armenia, to move them to within a point of Bulgaria with one game remaining.
In games involving teams whose qualification hopes had already ended, Azerbaijan defeated Northern Ireland 2-0 in Group F, Lithuania won by the same scoreline against Latvia in Group G, and Moldova made it nine losses in a row for bottom side San Marino in Group H as they cruised to a 3-0 victory.
