‘That game changed my life. After, people would come up to me on the street, they recognised me and I became more popular’ Jeremy Doku on his first tournament experience with Belgium

Jeremy Doku’s displays at Euro 2020 saw the young winger announce himself on the world stage.

Aged just 19, the Belgian produced one of the tournament’s breakout displays during his side’s quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Italy.

Fast forward to the present day and Doku have matured into one of Europe’s most exciting attackers, but he still reflects on just how important that night was for his career.

Doku on his performance against Italy

After easing through the group stage with three wins out of three as Denmark, Finland and Russia were all put to the sword, Belgium saw off Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the last-16 to set up a quarter-final against Italy.

Following his start against Finland, the teenage Doku was named in Roberto Martínez’s XI for the clash against the Azzurri and quickly repaid his manager’s faith.

Doku, then at Anderlecht, was a constant thorn in the side of the eventual tournament winners, winning a penalty which Romelu Lukaku dispatched just before the interval, while also setting the record for duels won in the tournament.

“That game changed my life,” he admits to FourFourTwo. “After that, people would come up to me on the street, they recognised me and I became more popular.”

Sixteen months after the delayed Euros, Doku would only play a few minutes at the World Cup in Qatar, when he came on as a substitute in Belgium’s final group stage match against Croatia, but was unable to help his side find the goal that would have seen them usurp the 2018 finalist in their group and make it through to the knockouts.

Doku was, however, grateful for Martinez for selecting him at all.

“Following the Euros, I was injured for much of the season,” he continues.

“I didn’t play for the national team for a year, so for the coach to call me up after I’d been injured and other players had played well, I was happy I was there.

“I didn’t play a lot, as I would have liked – only the last 15 minutes in the final game against Croatia, when I thought I did quite well.

“But he could have not taken me at all.”