Lukaku drops out of Belgium’s World Cup warm-ups

BRUSSELS, March 24 : Belgium’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku has withdrawn from their trip to the U.S. this week and will miss World Cup warm-up matches in Atlanta and Chicago.

The 32-year-old Lukaku, who has netted a record 89 goals in 124 internationals, has elected to work on his fitness and will skip Saturday’s clash against the U.S. and another friendly against Mexico.

“Romelu prefers to train in the coming period with the aim of further optimising his physical readiness,” the Belgian Football Association said in a statement on Tuesday.

Lukaku has struggled with injury this season and played only sparingly for his club Napoli.

His last game for his country was a 4-3 win over Wales in World Cup qualifying in Brussels in June, in which he scored. He missed Belgium’s next six internationals.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)