Lukaku, goal against Benfica and double celebration: the meaning

Again Romelu Lukaku, again from a penalty. By now the Belgium striker is getting a taste for it, who this time finds Benfica in front of him from eleven meters and obviously strikes him as he systematically manages to do. Udinese, Spezia, Juventus and now the Portuguese. After the goaltwo very distinct celebrations: the first was seen exactly seven days ago, the other has a special recipient.

The meanings

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Immediately after making sure his ball was safely in the net behind Odysseas Vlachodimos’ back, Lukaku froze in the same gesture that cost him his yellow card in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg. The right hand extended resting on the forehead “like a visor” – similar to a military salute – and the left index finger in contact with the lips instead as if to silence someone. The meaning? “A secret”, he explains himself at the end of the game. That someone seemed to be the Juventus curve last Tuesday, less reconstructions were made both against Sweden with his national team and tonight in the Champions League. After the hugs with his team-mates, then, Lukaku used four fingers pointing downwards – this time smiling – to mimic an “M”: the recipient in this case is known, because the 29-year-old owned by Chelsea has chosen to dedicate the network to mother Adolphine.

The words

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At the end of the match, Lukaku also presented himself to the television microphones: “I don’t listen to anyone before kicking a penalty – explains the forward -, not even with my teammates. It’s all concentration”. Then, the usual clarity of analysis: “I understand the criticisms of my previous performances, but I only think about looking ahead to do the best possible for Inter. We all have a responsibility to do well for this club, now we have to play well also in the league to get to the second leg with confidence. Today we had opportunities to score three or four goals, we need to repeat similar performances in the league, we’ll talk about it within the team. And we’ll have to do the same in the Coppa Italia.” He certainly hopes to have the opportunity to replicate his celebrations as much as possible. Finally, an interesting story that also involves Javier Zanetti: “Since I arrived at Inter he has helped me a lot in the mental aspect. He always says that to overcome moments of difficulty you have to keep a cool head and he told me even before of the match and after the match he said to me ‘see…’. He’s right”.