“It is important that we won. The pace was high in the initial phase, higher than afterwards. I don’t think it should be underestimated how difficult it is to keep the pace in the middle of the field,” the Dutch captain said to the NOS.
On course for the World Cup: Dutch team comfortably past Malta despite a weak first half
“We then became a bit sloppier and slower with the ball. In the second half you take distance and you win. Simple really,” was Van Dijk’s simple explanation. “The boys in the studio (Rafael van der Vaart and Pierre van Hooijdonk, ed.) know how difficult this is. We should not underestimate how difficult it is to play neat football through the middle.”
The 34-year-old Van Dijk, who lost three times in a row with Liverpool, lost the ball in the third minute, which almost resulted in a goal. Later, the Orange captain received a yellow card. “I didn’t think that was a yellow card at all. I hear that I am on edge, I have to deal with that. This is part of it. We still have three important games to achieve that. On to the next one.”
National coach Ronald Koeman equals Rinus Michels in Malta, the Dutch record is still far away
In this case, the next one is Finland, the opponent in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Sunday at 6 p.m.
| Position | Team | P | GS | W | V | G | DS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | +15 | |
| 2 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | +4 | |
| 3 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -1 | |
| 4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -3 | |
| 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | -15 |