Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is set to lead his country into a first European Championship semi-final in 20 years.
The Netherlands have undoubtedly benefitted from some relatively kind draws in Germany, but they’ve made it through to the last four.
Up against an England side who have been disappointing so far, Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch will believe they have a strong chance of making the final.
The three Liverpool players have had differing tournaments so far. While Gakpo has been excellent at Euro 2024, Gravenberch is yet to play a single minute.
As for Van Dijk, he remains the main man at the back. Van Dijk has been criticised in the Dutch media for some below par offerings, but the 33-year-old is still the key reference point for anyone facing the Netherlands.
Harry Kane makes Virgil van Dijk point
It remains a touch surprising that this summer’s competition represents Van Dijk’s first ever Euros.
The Liverpool No.4 was in line to lead his country out at Euro 2020, but hadn’t recovered in time from a Jordan Pickford induced ACL injury.
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Perhaps it’s fitting then that Pickford and his teammates are the one’s who will be standing in the way for Van Dijk leading the Dutch to a first major tournament final in 14 years.
More directly, Virgil will be up against another player who has given him plenty of trouble at Anfield over the years: Harry Kane. Just as Van Dijk is captaining the Netherlands, Kane will be wearing the armband for England.
The two players have had some epic battles over the years, not least in the Champions League final of 2019, when Liverpool beat Tottenham.
And speaking ahead of Wednesday’s match, Kane told his pre-game press conference that he’s expecting another ‘tough’ battle from Van Dijk.
“Yeah, in terms of Virgil, we have had some really good battles over the years from when he was at Southampton, at Liverpool, a lot of tough games, a lot of big games,” says the Bayern Munich striker.
“Sometimes he has won that battle, sometimes I have won that battle. Tomorrow night will be a tough game. Whoever plays (Matthijs de Ligt or Virgil van Dijk) will be tough opponents,” Kane adds.
“Yeah, I would always prepare in the same way, trying to make their lives as comfortable as possible. I am sure he will try to do the same to me. I enjoy playing against the best players in the world, that’s what we play football for, that’s why we play these games, and I am looking forward to that challenge tomorrow.”
Virgil van Dijk must rise to Harry Kane challenge
With Kane now plying his trade over in Germany, we can’t say that we’ve missed him all that much at Liverpool.
Although Kane has raved about the Anfield atmosphere in the past, the 31-year-old has never found it a trouble to score against the Reds.
As he suggests, that often has not translated into winning the battle against Liverpool, or against Van Dijk more directly.
But it’s fair to say that Kane has often found his way to the net, even with Van Dijk in the defence.
For Liverpool fans of a neutral persuasion, they may be conflicted as to who to support on Wednesday. On the one hand, it would be great to see Van Dijk in the final and potentially lifting the trophy.