Ivan Perisic discussed a moment he shared with former Inter teammate Romelu Lukaku after Belgium’s World Cup exit following their draw with Croatia.
The 29-year-old Nerazzurri striker came into the World Cup in Qatar managing a hamstring injury and he failed to reach full fitness in time for the Red Devils, being visibly below his usual level in their final group game against Croatia. Perisic and his national team have now qualified for the knock-out stages of the competition and will face Japan on December 5 in the Round of 16.
Speaking to FIFA+, Perisic discussed a moment he shared with Lukaku after the full time whistle of Belgium’s draw with Croatia.
“I was with him for two or three minutes after the game. This is football, once you score, another time you miss. He’s a really strong player. Now I hope he can win as many trophies as possible with the Inter shirt.
“For us the most important thing was to pass the group. We played a good game, as did they. But I think, considering the three games, we deserved to go ahead in this World Cup.”
The group stage exit is incredibly painful for Lukaku and Belgium, who’ll now be forced to watch their colleagues fight for the world title from the sidelines.
The Inter striker made a number of high profile misses in the draw with Croatia and he’ll have to dig deep to bounce back in the second half of the season with the Nerazzurri.