Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said the team may have overestimated themselves going into Euro 2024. The Netherlands only advanced to the round of 16 as the best third-placed team after losing to Austria on Tuesday.
“I understand the criticism completely, and overall we should have done better. Maybe we overestimated ourselves,” said Van Dijk.
“There’s a lot to be said (after the Austria loss), we have to analyze a lot. Tactically, there wasn’t anything wrong, it was mainly the winning mentality, so we talked about that.”
Van Dijk was heavily criticized by Netherlands legend Rafael van der Vaart on Dutch TV channel NOS. Van der Vaart accused him of lacking passion in a “disgraceful performance” against Austria, and the Dutch captain was responsible for the third and decisive goal conceded against Austria in Berlin.
Van Dijk told the media on Friday that he knows he has to defend to a higher standard. He said, “I’m not stupid. I also know that I can do better, should do better, and that’s what I’m working on.”
The Netherlands got lucky, as despite finishing third in their group, they drew Romania, a team with overall weaker strength, and avoided the “death zone” and Group C’s first-place team, England.
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