Captain Van Dijk Scores For the Netherlands

Virgil van Dijk made only his second appearance as Netherlands captain count on Monday when he scored for his team in a 3-0 trouncing of Portugal. The friendly, which took place in Switzerland, saw the Oranje dominate their Portuguese competition. The improved performance was most welcome after their stale 1-0 defeat they suffered earlier in the week against England.

Ronald Koeman named van Dijk captain just this past Thursday, and already the boss’s faith has paid off on the pitch. The Dutch scored three times in the first half, with captain van Dijk getting the final goal of the game at the stroke of halftime. The other two goal scorers for Netherlands were Memphis Depay and former Liverpool player Ryan Babel.

When the decision to make him captain was announced, many current and former players voiced their approval of Koeman’s decision, including former Dutch international and Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt.

Kuyt said of the choice, “Ronald Koeman took over the national team and last week in Holland they discussed a lot about who’s going to be the next captain and his name came up quite a few times. I think at the moment, for this team, a young team, he’s the best choice and it’s a great achievement for him.”

This victory will be a good note for van Dijk to return to Anfield on, and hopefully the good luck will keep rolling when Liverpool travel to London to take on Crystal Palace at the weekend.