World Cup 2018: Romelu Lukaku leaves fans stunned with moving family story

On Sunday, just one day before Belgium play their first game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, striker Romelu Lukaku published a piece on The Player’s Tribune. In the self-penned piece, Lukaku shared some of the hardships he faced while growing up in Belgium.

Romelu Lukaku: I am Belgian, we all are

Titled “I’ve got some things to say” Lukaku takes soccer fans on a journey of how he fought poverty at home and the promises he made to family members. The piece begins with the striker revealing how he knew that his family were broke. He was just six-years-old.

“I can still picture my mum at the refrigerator and the look on her face. I was six years old, and I came home for lunch during our break at school. My mum had the same thing on the menu every single day: Bread and milk. When you’re a kid, you don’t even think about it. But I guess that’s what we could afford.”

“Then this one day I came home, and I walked into the kitchen, and I saw my mum at the refrigerator with the box of milk, like normal. But this time she was mixing something in with it.”

The mother of the Belgian star was forced to mix the milk with water. The family had no money to last for the whole week.

While the Manchester United player’s father was a pro-footballer, the money had long since dried up. The family went for two or three weeks at a time with no electricity or hot water at home.

“People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet. Because I remember sitting in the dark with my brother and my mom, saying our prayers, and thinking, believing, knowing … it’s [success] going to happen.”

Lukaku explains how he eventually went on to ask his father when he could start playing professional football? “Sixteen” was the answer.

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From that point onwards, “every game I ever played was a final”. In the park or at break time at school, young Romelu used to “try to tear the cover off the ball every time” he shot it.

Things became tough in other ways for Lukaku as his height caused other parents to demand his ID during matches. Some parents even tried to stop him from going on the pitch.

“He was like, ‘How old is this kid? Where is his I.D.? Where is he from?’ I thought, Where am I from? What? I was born in Antwerp. I’m from Belgium.”

Lukaku’s “bood would boil” during those moments while the parents inspected his ID. His parents culd not come weith him as there was no car to travel to away games. That motivated him even more.

When Romelu Lukaku was 12, he scored 76 goals in 34 games.

11 days after he turned 16, he went professional. Four years earlier, he was promising his grandfather on his deathbed that he would look after his mother.

After more bets with his coach and a demand for pancakes, he proved everyone wrong. His mom lives in comfort and Lukaku is now starting for Belgium and Manchester United.

You can read Lukaku’s full “come-up” story here.