Netherlands managed a 3-2 win against Lithuania in the World Cup Qualifiers on September 7, at Darius and Girėnas Stadium.
Memphis Depay opened the scoring for Netherlands from an assist by Cody Gakpo in the 11th minute, followed by Quinten Timber’s goal in the 33rd minute. However, Oranje failed to defend their lead as Lithuania found the back of the net twice before the end of the first half.
Depay scored his second goal of the match after being set up by Denzel Dumfries in the 63rd minute, securing the win for Netherlands.
Even though they walked off with a successful result, Netherlands’ victory over Lithuania, who are yet to bag a win in the qualifiers and ranked 143rd by FIFA, was a close call. And now, Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk has shared his thoughts on their recent performance, urging the squad to ‘ do much better.’
What did Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk say?
Speaking after the match against Lithuania, Van Dijk referred to Netherlands’ display as ‘simply bad,’ mentioning that the Dutch squad ‘need to make things right together’ and said,
“We had a good 2-0 lead, but it ended too easily at 2-2, which made things difficult for ourselves. It was simply bad. The most important thing is the three points, but if we want to make progress, this obviously can’t happen,” as per GOAL.
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“We all need to look in the mirror and do much better. An evening like this shouldn’t happen. Are we being tough enough on each other? Yes. Of course, we’ll talk to each other and show each other videos. We’ll definitely discuss it after the match. When we meet again next time, we need to make things right together. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
After adding three points to the Group table, Netherlands will face Malta in their next World Cup qualifier on October 9.
