Rafael van der Vaart savages Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk as Netherlands draw with Japan
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Virgil van Dijk had a mixed night as the Netherlands were held by Japan in Dallas (Picture: Getty) Rafael van der Vaart took aim at Virgil van Dijk as the Netherlands were held to a 2-2 draw in their World Cup opener with Japan, likening the defender’s turning to that of a ‘Boeing 747’. It's finally here Get everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.
A bit like a Boeing 747 turning. ‘I hope he starts turning a bit faster during the tournament.’ The Dutch lock horns with Sweden in their next encounter (Picture: Getty) On ITV’s coverage of the contest, Keane instead chose to praise Van Dijk on his display, applauding the centre-back’s ‘fantastic header’ to open the scoring. ‘It was obviously a brilliant delivery from Gravenberch, we know how good they are from set-pieces,’ the ex-Manchester United captain remarked. ‘Van Dijk is obviously on a good run of form in terms of scoring goals. Some of the deliveries tonight from set-pieces weren’t great but when it comes back to Gravenberch… The Netherlands were forced to settle for a point after twice surrendering a lead (Picture: Getty) ‘We saw Japan dropping deeper and deeper and once it goes in it’s an absolutely fantastic header from Van Dijk. ‘He’s such a goal threat, brilliant finish.
The way he guided it, there’s no pace in it, but fantastic header. ‘Poor defending, Japan are dropping deeper but it’s beautiful, he’s seen it all the way. It’s real quality and Japan just drop off that little bit. ‘Summerville has got good runners around him, there’s a runner on the outside, Donyell Malen just pulls away and all of a sudden he just gets that little bit of space to dip inside. ‘I think the goalkeeper might be a little late to go, maybe he’s unsighted, but Summerville just sets it out beautifully with his left foot and it’s a great goal.’ Could the Netherlands realistically win the World Cup?