Van Dijk is suspicious of Croatia: “It’s a very difficult team to beat”

Virgil van Dijkdefense of choice of Netherlandsassured this Tuesday in a press conference that Croatiatheir rival in the Nations League soccer semifinals, was a “very difficult team to beat.”

The center of Liverpool He acknowledged that reaching the final of the competition will be very difficult as they will have to overcome a team that has shown in recent years that it is capable of competing effectively. “We have a very difficult game tomorrow against Croatia. They are a very difficult team to beat, which is something they have shown again and again in recent years. I would like to have the cup, but we don’t have to think about that now because Croatia This is a very difficult team to beat,” he insisted.

The choice of Netherlands It was runner-up in the first edition and Van Dijk admitted that it was “possible”, at the time, they did not “completely” realize that their team was playing a cup. “That only came after the lost final. I think this competition is more alive now, so the energy is created faster and easier. In the last training sessions, the level was, in any case, very high .”

He also spoke about the damage to Matthijs de Ligthis partner in the middle of the defense of Netherlands. “Obviously there were expectations that he was going to play by my side. But the players who will come also have to do their job and anyone who is in the squad is capable of doing it well. Otherwise, he shouldn’t be here,” commented he.

In addition, he emphasized that the mood of the squad in recent days has been “very good” with “pretty intense” work sessions where he realized that all the players are “ready” to fight for the title.

“It’s a semi-final, we all want to show what we can do in our own country. I hope to our fans as well. We can do something good with it.”

In the end, he talked Nathan Akewho this weekend was declared champion of the Champions League with Manchester City: “He was back at Zeist yesterday. It’s a shame it didn’t happen to me (when he won the ‘Champions’ with Liverpool), in which all applauded me. We did it in the morning. What he has achieved is something beautiful. The team and the squad are very happy for him. He can be proud of this. That deserves applause”, he concluded.