Wolfsburg (Reuters)
Virgil van Dijk, captain of the Netherlands, said that he understands the criticism directed at his team in the European Championship 2024, and agrees with some of the sentiments, despite scoring four points, out of a possible six points in Group D.
The Netherlands beat Poland 2-1 in its first match in Hamburg, and was lucky not to lose to France in its second match in Leipzig, escaping with a goalless draw.
Van Dijk told reporters, “Against Poland we played well for 60 minutes, and created many chances, but we were also under pressure. Against France, we were more cohesive, and keeping a clean sheet against the world runner-up is good, but when we had the ball, we were very bad.” .
The Dutch national team was criticized by television analysts and newspaper columnists after the France match, but Van Dijk was not bothered by this criticism.
He added, “Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. This is good. This does not bother me. It is part of football. If it bothers me, I will live a very unpleasant life. Expectations are high among us as well. We have a good team, and I honestly believe that. We want to show that in the tournament.” Big matches, after the France match we clearly told each other what to improve;
“We can and must perform better than we did against France. We can still make progress in this European Championship.”
The Netherlands, which is almost certain to qualify for the round of 16, will complete its group stage matches against Austria in Berlin on Tuesday.
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