World Cup 2018: Romelu Lukaku lauded by Rio Ferdinand after his dominant performance helped fire Belgium into the semi-finals
Manchester United striker was sensational as the tournament favourites were sent packing after a 2-1 defeat
RIO FERDINAND lauded Belgium's Romelu Lukaku for his demolition job of Brazil's defence.
The Manchester United man bullied the Samba star's back four as Belgium knocked out the tournament favourites with a 2-1 win.
Lukaku played a key part with a brilliant solo run to assist Kevin De Bruyne's sensational strike to fire the Belgian's two goals ahead.
Brazil could barely contain the 25-year-old as his pace and power proved too much for the likes of Thiago Silva.
And Ferdinand didn't hold back in his praise of Lukaku by claiming "he shouldn't even be allowed to play with them."
In the BBC studio, he said: "It's like playing in the school playground and you have a 16-year-old playing against the 11-year-olds, It's like that he's too big and too strong for everyone,
"He shouldn't be allowed to play with them almost!"
Lukaku, who is two behind Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot with four goals, was also praised by Alan Shearer.
The former England striker added: "I've been very, very impressed with him. Pace, power, touch, strength, technique, bringing people into the game and he's played that role very well because he's been asked to do a different one - to pull out wide a little bit to create space for Hazard or De Bruyne,
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"You could tell after four or five minutes when the ball went up to him you thought, "he's in the mood tonight," I think this is one of the best 45 minutes we've seen of Lukaku.
"Once he's got that yard in front of you you're not catching him because he's that quick and too strong. All he needs is the goal and you've got the perfect centre-forward performance."