Virgil van Dijk scored a stunning late equaliser for the Netherlands against Germany, prompting some Liverpool fans to praise his exploits on Twitter.
Virgil van Dijk has had quite the year in 2018. No sooner had the clock struck 12 on New Year’s Day, the transfer window opened and the Dutchman was on his way to Liverpool from Southampton.
Van Dijk, who became the world’s most expensive defender in a reported £75million move, then immediately endeared himself to his new fans by scoring on his debut against none other than Everton.
Since then, the 27-year-old has gone from strength to strength, quickly finding his feet for Liverpool and helping shore up their previously leaky defence en route to fourth in the Premier League table, and to the Champions League final.
In terms of his exploits at international level, Van Dijk was unfortunately not able to showcase his talents at the World Cup given the Netherlands’ poor qualifying campaign and failure to reach Russia.
In the inaugural Nations League, however, the Oranje skipper repeated his heroics from the previous month’s 3-0 win over Germany by scoring once more against the old enemy, lashing a superb volley past Manuel Neuer to seal a last-ditch 2-2 draw.
The result meant that the Dutch will now head to Portugal for the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League, and will take on either the hosts, England – or Switzerland next summer.
Liverpool fans took to Twitter to praise their star centre-back for his display in the orange of Holland:
Other fans, meanwhile, have called for Van Dijk to be given the captain’s armband at Anfield:
Van Dijk has now scored two goals in his last three Netherlands appearances, having only scored once in 18 games prior to the start of the Nations League.
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