LUKAKU RETURNS TO BELGIUM TRAINING

Romelu Lukaku trained on Friday ahead of Belgium’s match against Morocco after missing their opener with a thigh injury. The forward has played 90 minutes just once this season and his last appearance came for Inter Milan on October 29. Lukaku missed Belgium’s 1-0 win over Canada but trained with his team mates ahead of Sunday’s match. The 29year-old forward also trained on Thursday behind closed doors, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne confirmed. Michy Batshuayi played up front against Canada, scoring the only goal, but De Bruyne said Lukaku’s return would be a major boost. “Romelu’s return will not change the way we play but of course he is a top striker,” De Bruyne said. “He has not played for a long time, but if he can only have a few minutes, defensively they will be scared.”

GERMAN PRESS CENTRE HAS ONELOVE LOGO

Germany replaced the logo of a supermarket chain that pulled its sponsorship over the ‘Onelove’ diversity armband controversy with that of the armband itself at their World Cup press centre. The background wall of the German press conference room that displays all the team’s sponsors at their training base in north Qatar on Friday included the ‘Onelove’ logo and rainbow in place of the REWE supermarket chain that pulled out. The space is not open to the public and only to accredited media. Meanwhile, Leroy Sane returned to training on Friday ahead of a crucial match against Spain after missing the shock opening defeat by Japan with injury. Sane’s right knee was strapped as he took part in the session at Al-shamal. The Bayern Munich attacker came into the World Cup in good form, with 10 goals in 19 games for his club, but he missed Germany’s 2-1 loss to Japan. A defeat by Spain would send the four-time champions crashing out.