Shaken Belgium stir against Ireland

Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku says he is relieved at the way that Belgium have bounced back from the defeat by Italy and that he and his teammates were wary of the Republic of Ireland ahead of a game that might have left them on the brink of elimination if it had gone differently.

Instead, the Belgians won well with the Everton striker scoring two of their three goals but preferring afterwards to focus on the wider team performance which was impressive, pretty much from the beginning to end.

“For me it’s just about making the right runs and just being positive like the rest of my team mates are,” said the 23 year-old who has rarely really delivered like this on the international stage. “I think the most important thing, though, is the team. You know with the players that I play with, I always know that I can get a chance.”

He didn't actually get too many in Bordeaux but his finishing for the goals was absolutely clinical with Darren Randolph left completely helpless on each occasion. Still, he says that he and his team mates considered Ireland a dangerous side with the capacity to cause a threat themselves.

“We knew that they were dangerous with Shane (Long) up front so we had to be a bit careful. I think it was very important for us to win today - to deliver a good performance after the game against Italy, which was a setback.

“Sometimes you need a setback (like that) because we have a young squad. It’s good, because we faced the reality. We knew that Italy was a good side and they showed it against us. Now we are awake and have to become even better after the performance of today.”

Asked he had been surprised by how deeply Ireland had defended over the opening half of the game, the striker smiled and observed: “It’s something that you expect sometimes when you play against us.”