The Netherlands defeated Lithuania 3-2 away in the 6th round of the European World Cup Qualifiers’ first phase. After the match, Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk gave an interview to camel.live.
How would you assess tonight’s performance?
“It was a bad night. I think the only positive thing was that Memphis Depay scored two goals and broke the record. After leading 2-0, we let Lithuania equalize 2-2 far too easily. That’s asking for trouble, and it’s unacceptable. We were too careless in possession, failed to win second balls, and couldn’t win physical duels. That’s a poor performance. Of course, we got three points, which is the most important thing, but if we really want to achieve something, this kind of situation must not happen again.”
What lessons can the team learn from tonight’s mistakes, especially the first goal conceded?
“Look at their first goal—their player just dribbled towards our goal with complete ease. We should have committed a tactical foul at that moment. That must never happen. We have to do better and be more consistent. There’s no doubt about that. At this stage of the season, it’s true that we’re still finding a consistent level, but that can’t be an excuse.”
How will the team reflect on this performance and improve moving forward?
“I think we all need to look in the mirror. We achieved our objective on this trip, but if we want to keep improving as a team, nights like this must never be repeated. We are definitely tough on each other. Of course, we talked about it at halftime. We’ll also have plenty of time to discuss it on the flight back. When we regroup next month, we must sit down and talk again with the video footage. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from tonight.”
