Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk had a ruthless response to Matthijs de Ligt’s costly error against Germany on Tuesday evening.
De Ligt teamed up with Van Dijk in the Dutch defense in Amsterdam but made a crucial error that led to Germany’s equalizer. The Manchester United newcomer attempted to play out from the back but lost possession, allowing Deniz Undav to score.
Van Dijk was visibly frustrated, hitting the ground in anger and seemingly directing his displeasure towards De Ligt. De Ligt was substituted at halftime for Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke. Van Dijk did not hold back when commenting on De Ligt’s mistake, stating to NOS, “This is football. You need to learn from these moments. At the highest level, such errors are punished.”
Earlier, AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders had given the Dutch a lead, but Joshua Kimmich and Undav’s goals turned the score to 2-1 in favor of Germany before halftime. In the second half, Denzel Dumfries scored to level the match, ensuring a 2-2 draw in the Nations League encounter.
