On Sunday, Virgil van Dijk and the Netherlands played their fourth Nations League match of the extended international break with a 2-1 victory over Serbia that sees them end the window having taken eight of 12 points in the competition and top of a group that also includes Greece and Germany.
For captain Van Dijk, it wasn’t just the win that he was celebrating after the match. It was the recording of his 100th senior cap for the Dutch national team—and has him just one senior appearance away from
matching midfielder Phillip Cocu and pushing his way into the all-time top ten.
“I’m very grateful to the group and all the staff members with whom I’ve worked with and in the end, I am most grateful for my family,” Van Dijks said following the match. “They were there tonight, too. So it’s a special evening and great milestone and definitely something I’m very proud of.
“But it doesn’t stop at 100, even if it’s something I never dreamed about. It felt too far away to think about when I was young, but I think I’ve got the most out of my career. Unfortunately, I missed [2020 with a knee injury] or I might have come close to Wesley Sneijder (134), but I’m proud and happy.”
Thanks to the elongated first international break, Van Dijk and the Netherlands will wrap up group play in the current edition of the Nations League in the November break when they take on Greece and Germany, with the group’s top two then set to head to the quarter-finals in the new year.
“You have to take very good care of yourself and do everything that you can to be ready every single time,” he added. “I feel like I’m in a good position now, so I just have to keep going. Playing football is the most fun thing there is for me, but I understand why people look at age in our sport.
“When things are going well they always say you look good for your age and then at other times they say you look like an old man. So I just have to make sure that I perform as well as possible for the team, on and off the field. And winning helps, of course. Because you just want to win. Period.”
