Romelu Lukaku scored four goals in 20 first-half minutes as Belgium thrashed 10-man Azerbaijan 5-0 in Sunday's World Cup qualifier.
The 30-year-old striker – currently on loan at Serie A side Roma from Premier League Chelsea – has now scored 83 goals in 113 games for Belgium, moving him to joint seventh on the all-time men's international goalscoring chart.
Lukaku has moved above Poland's Robert Lewandowski (81 in 145 games) and is level with UAE striker Ali Mabkhout who has played one game less than the Belgian hitman.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo (128 goals in 205 games for Portugal), Ali Daei (108 in 148, Iran), Lionel Messi (106 in 179, Argentina), Sunil Chhetri (93 in 144, India), Mokhtar Dahari (89 in 142, Malaysia) and Ferenc Puskas (84 in 85, Hungary) have scored more.
“The whole team gave a great performance today and we showed our qualities,” said the former Manchester United and Inter Milan attacker. “It feels very good when you score four goals.”
Such was Belgium's dominance, manager Domenico Tedesco was able to bring off Lukaku at the break. “I’ve been playing a lot for Roma in recent weeks and that is why the coach and I decided for me to come off at half-time,” he added.
Lukaku opened the scoring in Brussels on Sunday when he headed home a cross from Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku in the 17th minute.
Azerbaijan's night was made far more problematic soon after when midfielder Eddy Pascual picked up his second yellow card in just four minutes leaving his side a man down.
It was 2-0 in the 26th minute when Lukaku smashed home a knock down by Fulham full-back Timothy Castagne and then completed his hat-trick on the half-hour mark by heading home a cross from Leicester City defender Wout Faes.
In the 37th minute Lukakau grabbed his fourth after easily beating the keeper following a ball from Nottingham Forest midfielder Orel Mangala.
“It was an outstanding performance by Romelu,” said Tedesco, whose unbeaten run at the start of his reign now stands at 10 games, with eight of those ending in wins. “He scored with every shot. You can’t do better.”
Arsenal's Leandro Trossard completed Belgium's scoring in the 90th minute after a pass from Doku, meaning all five goals had been supplied by English-based players.
But the day was clearly Lukaku's who made it 14 goals in eight qualifiers for the Red Devils who had already booked their place in next summer's Euro 2024 but leapfrogged Austria to finish top of Group F.
Lukaku has now scored the most goals in a European qualifying campaign, beating the 13 scored by Poland’s Robert Lewandowski (in Euro 2016 qualifying) and Northern Ireland’s David Healy (Euro 2008).
His closest rivals in this campaign are Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo with 10 goals and Kylian Mbappe of France who has nine.
Lukaku has also enjoyed a fine start to the season for Jose Mourinho's Roma scoring nine times in 14 games.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Company%20Profile
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014
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New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
