Liverpool’s Van Dijk and Gakpo End Nations League Campaign with Defeat

The Nations League has ended with a whimper for Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo as the Netherlands today was defeated 3-2 by Italy in the third-place match following their extra time loss in the semi-final against Croatia on Wednesday.

With international football now finally going on hold for the summer, it means the duo will get three weeks away from the pitch before Liverpool players report for their pre-season preparations ahead of the 2023-24 season between July 8th and 11th.

Van Dijk, Gakpo, and others involved in international action over the past week will be given an extra few days and are scheduled to return on the 11th before training camp switches to Germany on the 19th for phase two and Singapore for phase three.

Other internationals reporting on the 11th will include Andy Robertson, who wrapped their third round of Euros 2024 qualifying with Scotland as they beat Norway 2-1, maintaining their so-far perfect record at the top of Group A with five games to play.

England also have a perfect record in their group, Group C, after three rounds after they beat Malta 4-0 on Friday with Trent Alexander-Arnold given a chance to impress in midfield since Gareth Southgate doesn’t know how to use him as a right back.

Rounding things out, Diogo Jota came off the bench for Portugal—who are also 3-0 in Euros qualifying—as they beat Bosnia 3-0, while Alisson Becker didn’t leave the bench for Brazil in their weekend friendly victory against Guinea played in Spain.