It was a night to forget for Virgil van Dijk as the Netherlands lost to Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League after a 3-3 draw between both sides after extra-time.
The Liverpool centre-back managed to score his spot-kick during the shootout as well but ultimately, it was no avail as Pedri eventually won Spain the contest with his winning penalty.
Virgil van Dijk would have been hoping to captain the Netherlands to a place in the semi-finals after having beaten the reigning European champions.
But Van Dijk has experienced his Dutch side fail to deliver on far too many instances and Sunday night was no different — despite Ronald Koeman’s side showcasing they are heading in the right direction with a valiant display against Spain.
From a personal point of view, the 32-year-old would have been frustrated to witness him being a part of a defence that conceded three goals.
- READ MORE: What Liverpool plan to do with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk during upcoming international break
Virgil van Dijk left Dutch media impressed during Spain vs Netherlands
However, how Netherlands’ defence fares is not solely reliant on Van Dijk’s expertise but it could be argued that he was partially cuplable for Mikel Oyarzabal’s second goal.
The Champions League winner was marking Oyarzabal before deciding to leave him free in the box to pick his spot and double his side’s lead.
But the Real Sociedad winger’s opener was down to a rash challenge from Jan Paul van Hecke while Lamine Yamal’s late strike can be blamed on shoddy defending from Ian Maatsen to let him cut inside on his favoured left foot and go for goal.
However, the Dutch media were impressed by Van Dijk’s display against Spain, with AD handing him a 7.5/10 match rating and praising his captain-like performance: “
“The captain took responsibility and successfully took care of the first penalty in the series. Van Dijk played a good match in Valencia. Especially when the Dutch team played deep in the Spaniards’ half, he was constantly the man who neutralized the long ball from the European champions. Perhaps he could have defended the goal line at Oyarzabal’s 2-1 when [Bart] Verbruggen managed to stop the Spaniard’s first attempt, although he would have had to act very quickly.”
Football Oranje also gave the in-form defender a 7/5/10 rating for his leadership at the back: “A very captain-like performance from Van Dijk, who led the team well from the back. The defence was open at times but Van Dijk dealt with a number of situations well.”
While outlet VL rated Van Dijk’s display at a match-high 8/10.
- READ MORE: How Virgil van Dijk feels about his future at Liverpool after losing the Carabao Cup final
Virgil van Dijk stats vs Spain
Against Spain, Van Dijk’s statistics certainly made for mixed reading reading.
The former Southampton centre-back made eight clearances, two blocks and two interceptions.
However, Van Dijk lost four of his six duels and was dribbled past two times as well.
| VIRGIL VAN DIJK STATS VS SPAIN | |
| CLEARANCES | 8 |
| BLOCKS | 2 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | 2 |
| DUELS WON | 2/6 |
| DRIBBLED PAST | 2 |
