Romelu Lukaku nets hat trick on his return for Belgium against Sweden

Romelu Lukaku underlined his enduring value to Belgium by scoring all three goals in a 3-0 win at Sweden in or table victory on Friday.

It was a successful start to Domenico Tedesco's tenure as coach of Belgium, which is also playing under a new captain in Kevin De Bruyne.

Tedesco will kw importance of having Lukaku healthy if Red Devils are to finally win an international trophy.

striker wasn't fully fit at World Cup and that was a big reason why Belgium went out in group st. Lukaku has been playing regularly for Inter Milan since n and was a constant threat against Sweden as he scored in 35th, 49th and 83rd minutes, with two set up by winger Dodi Lukebakio.

“A really good result," Tedesco said. “I felt a good spirit t only on pitch but also on bench. spirit of being united.” Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden's 41-year-old striker, came off bench for his first national team appearance in nearly a year and h a couple of chances to score.

Loss for lewandowski

Euro 2024 could be last major international tournament for 34-year-old Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, though Poland's bid to make it to Germany got off to a sticky start.

Poland lost 3-1 at Czech Republic, which went ahe when Lislav Krejcí scored after 27 seconds — earliest goal netted by national team in its history.

Tomáš Cvancara and Jan Kuchta also were on target for Czechs as Lewandowski was kept scoreless in Group E game.

Austria beat Azerbaijan 4-1 in group containing Belgium and Sweden, with on-loan Manchester United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer scoring twice, and Greece won at Gibraltar 3-0 in France's group.

re were wins for Serbia (2-0 at home to Lithuania) and Montenegro (1-0 at Bulgaria) in Group G. (AP) AM AM AM