Virgil van Dijk was in no mood to talk after the Netherlands’ defeat against Austria.
Heading into the last round of fixtures of Group D, the Netherlands were top of the table after beating Poland and drawing with France.
Ahead of their clash against Austria at the Olympiastadion, Ronald Koeman’s team knew they only had to match France’s result to advance as group winners.
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However, they produced a poor display as Ralf Rangnick’s side came away 3-2 winners.
An own goal by Donyell Malen plus goals from Romano Schmid and Marcel Sabitzer were enough to seal victory for the Austrians. Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay were the scorers for the Dutch.
As a result of France’s 1-1 draw against Poland, Austria went through to the last 16 of Euro 2024 as Group D winners, with France as runners-up and the Netherlands third.
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After the match, Netherlands captain Van Dijk was in no mood to speak as he walked straight through the mixed zone without stopping to take questions from the media.
Speaking to NOS immediately after the game, per De Telegraaf, Van Dijk said: “A very bad match. We started weakly, in possession of the ball but also in the duels. Then you are behind the times. It was just a bad evening.
“We are all responsible. It shouldn’t happen, but it did and that’s bad.”
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He added: “If we want to achieve anything in this tournament, things have to change very quickly.”
The Netherlands are expected to take on England in the round of 16 on Sunday evening at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen.
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Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Netherlands, Euro 2024, Austria, Football
Marcus Chan