Virgil van Dijk ripped to shreds over comments immediately after World Cup heartbreak | Football | Sport

Virgil van Dijk sparked controversy by claiming the Netherlands’ game plan worked against Morocco, despite being knocked out of the World Cup on penalties. They were held to a 1-1 draw by Morocco, who forced extra-time when Issa Diop cancelled out Cody Gakpo’s second-half opener in the 91st minute. Ronald Koeman’s men then squandered three penalties in the shootout, crashing out at the Round of 32 stage.

With the Netherlands widely expected to progress further in the tournament, their premature departure has emerged as one of the major talking points of this summer’s World Cup. Van Dijk’s post-match remarks have since drawn considerable scrutiny from fans online, after the Liverpool skipper spoke favourably about the Dutch tactical approach.

“[It’s] very difficult to analyse it now,” he said. “An intense match. I think we were well-organised defensively.

“They basically couldn’t find the open man between the lines. So the game plan worked, of course. I think we scored a good goal.

“Ultimately, in injury time, you get pushed back. Then it goes to penalties. Unfortunately, we get knocked out.

“If you look at almost all the big teams at the World Cup, they also just drop back and they also wait for the right moment to apply pressure.

“We trained hard on this for two days. At times it went well. Of course, there are always things that can be improved, but anyway, that doesn’t help us right now.”

Van Dijk and his team-mates were happy to surrender the majority of possession to Morocco, managing an xG of just 0.24 compared to their opponents, who registered an xG of 1.4 and nearly twice as many attempts on goal.

His remarks swiftly drew a fierce response on social media, with one user hitting back: “Yes Virgil, gameplan succeeded greatly! Much success!

“Managed to get a draw after parking the bus for 90 minutes, conceding after going 1-0 up and then missing 3 pens. Good process!”.

Another questioned: “21 per cent possession in the second half, was that the gameplan?”

A third was more blunt, stating: “You can say anything but not that the game plan worked.”

Morocco progress to face Canada in Houston on Saturday, with a quarter-final place up for grabs.