Liverpool‘s Virgil van Dijk has admitted that he is very much a wounded soul after this week.
The Reds defender was involved in arguably the best game of the World Cup thus far.
On Friday, Argentina eliminated Van Dijk and the Netherlands from the competition at the quarter-final stage.
Even more heartbreakingly, it was a penalty shootout which led to the Dutch going home – and the Liverpool powerhouse was among those who missed from 12 yards.
And Van Dijk, who earns £220,000 per week [Spotrac], has conceded that he is ‘very sad’ but he is hoping that time will be a great healer for him.
He told The Daily Mail: “I’m very hurt and I feel like I let my guys down. We’re going home and I’m very sad about that. Hopefully that feeling will change in the next weeks and the proud feeling will kick in.”
The good news for the Liverpool stalwart is that he won’t have much time to dwell on his penalty miss.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have a Carabao Cup date with Manchester City on December 22, before visiting Aston Villa on Boxing Day for their first Premier League back following the World Cup.
Van Dijk, as ever, has been a massive player for the Anfield outfit this season and he’ll need to get this disappointment out of his system as soon as possible.
That’s because Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League table and seven points behind Spurs in fourth.
There’s little time for licking wounds but Van Dijk, being who he is, will know that.
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