EPL: Romelu Lukaku reveals level of family poverty

Manchester United striker, Romelu Lukaku, has given an account of his
family background, revealing that they were not just poor but broke.

Lukaku, who is currently representing Belgium at the ongoing FIFA
World Cup in Russia, shared a very emotional story about his childhood
in an interview with The Player Tribune, revealing that his family
lived in abject poverty.

Lukaku talked about his struggle growing up as a black footballer in
Belgium and how he vowed to be the best player ever in the country.

"I remember the exact moment I knew we were broke. I can still picture
my mum at the refrigerator and the look on her face. I was six years
old, and I came home for lunch during our break at school. My mum had
the same thing on the menu every single day: Bread and milk. When
you're a kid, you don't even think about it. But I guess that's what
we could afford."

"Then this one day I came home, and I walked into the kitchen, and I
saw my mum at the refrigerator with the box of milk, like normal. But
this time she was mixing something in with it. She was shaking it all
up, you know? I didn't understand what was going on. Then she brought
my lunch over to me, and she was smiling like everything was cool. But
I realized right away what was going on."

"She was mixing water in with the milk. We didn't have enough money to
make it last the whole week. We were broke. Not just poor, but broke.
My father had been a pro footballer, but he was at the end of his
career and the money was all gone. The first thing to go was the cable
TV. No more football. No more Match of the Day. No signal. Then I'd
come home at night and the lights would be shut off. No electricity
for two, three weeks at a time."

"Then I'd want to take a bath, and there would be no hot water. My mum
would heat up a kettle on the stove, and I'd stand in the shower
splashing the warm water on top of my head with a cup. There were even
times when my mum had to "borrow" bread from the bakery down the
street. The bakers knew me and my little brother, so they'd let her
take a loaf of bread on Monday and pay them back on Friday."

"I knew we were struggling. But when she was mixing in water with the
milk, I realized it was over, you know what I mean? This was our life.
I didn't say a word. I didn't want her to stress. I just ate my lunch.
But I swear to God, I made a promise to myself that day. It was like
somebody snapped their fingers and woke me up. I knew exactly what I
had to do, and what I was going to do. I couldn't see my mother living
like that. Nah, nah, nah. I couldn't have that."

"People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I'm the
strongest dude you're ever going to meet. Because I remember sitting
in the dark with my brother and my mom, saying our prayers, and
thinking, believing, knowing … it's going to happen. I kept my promise
to myself for a while. But then some days I'd come home from school
and find my mum crying. So I finally told her one day, "Mum, it's
gonna change. You'll see. I'm going to play football for Anderlecht,
and it's going to happen soon. We'll be good. You won't have to worry
anymore."