By Nick Said
HOUSTON, June 21 (Reuters) - Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk is feeling discomfort after taking a knock in Saturday’s 5-1 World Cup demolition of Sweden, but is hopeful the injury is not serious enough to keep him out of the team’s final pool game against Tunisia.
The Netherlands bounced back from a 2-2 draw with Japan to inflict a heavy defeat on the Swedes in Houston, and will fancy their chances of sealing top spot in Group F when they play hapless already-eliminated Tunisia in Kansas
City on Thursday.
"I took a hard hit to my hip, and I couldn’t feel my upper leg anymore, so that was a little bit crazy," Van Dijk was quoted as saying by NOS. "But it was probably just a pinched nerve. I think it is not too bad, but we will see shortly."
Centre-back Van Dijk remains a key figure for coach Ronald Koeman and could become the Dutch player with the most World Cup appearances as captain if he features against the Tunisians.
He currently has seven, level with Johan Cruyff, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Frank de Boer and Ruud Krol, and if he leads the side again in this World Cup will move clear on the all-time list.
He is not the only injury concern. Midfielder Frenkie de Jong was a doubt coming into the match against Sweden, but played almost an hour before being replaced.
"We had a collision at training, and I was also involved in that," De Jong said. "I had sustained some damage from it, but in the end, it was okay. We’re going to see what the reaction will be, but I have confidence in it."
The win extended the Netherlands’ unbeaten run at World Cups to 14 games, not counting penalty shootouts. That took them past Brazil (1958-1966) for the longest unbeaten streak in the tournament’s history.
The last time they lost a game outright was the 2010 final to Spain when they went down 1-0 in Soweto, South Africa.
Netherlands currently top Group F after two rounds with four points, the same number as Japan. Both teams have a +4 goal difference, though the Dutch have scored a goal more.
Japan play Sweden in their final match, where the latter could still top the pool despite their heavy defeat to the Dutch if they win and Tunisia hold the Netherlands to a draw.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
