Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk, captained the Netherlands team and led them to a crucial 1-0 win over Ireland Saturday night and earned heavy praises from Dutch media.
Virgil van Dijk completed the full 90 minutes as Wout Weghorst’s 11th-minute effort handed Ronald Koeman’s men all three points.
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This victory takes the Dutch team a step closer to qualifying for the Euros next year. If they earn a point against Gibraltar on Tuesday, it would guarantee them a spot at the tournament in Germany next year.
However, Netherlands haven’t been at their best during the qualifiers. But Van Dijk has been in exceptional form for both club and country recently.
In fact, Alan Shearer recently claimed the Liverpool captain has rediscovered his best form under Klopp this term. And he continued his promising start to the season with a solid display against Ireland last night.
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Dutch media impressed with the Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk
The Dutch media have been praising the center-back for his brilliant performance.
Moreover, Football Oranje handed the 32-year-old a rating of 7 out of 10 for his brilliant display. They claimed that he provided a cool head at the back for Holland in their victory.
“A calming presence at the back for the Netherlands, Van Dijk didn’t put a foot wrong all game and cleared anything that came his way.”
Meanwhile, Voetbal Primeur rated the player a 6 out of 10 but wrote good things about the player.
“Solid, and that says most. Van Dijk took the initiative in the build-up with De Vrij and Blind and did not feature much in the game himself. Defensively he held his own.”
While he has been slowly returning to his best form this season, the same wasn’t the case last time. Van Dijk struggled to find his best form as Liverpool under-performed for the whole season, finishing 5th.
Many had written off the defender but he has been proving the critics wrong this season. With an important match against Manchester City next week, the center-back would be looking to put on a similar performance to take home all 3 points.
I’m a football enthusiast and an avid writer and someone who lives by the Bill Shankly quote, on a day to day basis.
