Van Dijk says Netherlands ‘might have overestimated’ themselves

Captain Virgil van Dijk suggested that the Netherlands may have overestimated their capabilities going into Euro 2024, following their narrow qualification for the last 16 as one of the best third-placed finishers.

“I can completely understand the criticism,” Van Dijk said. “Things overall can and should be better. Maybe we overestimate ourselves.”

Despite being under the guidance of Ronald Koeman, the Netherlands finished behind France in Group D, with Austria impressively topping the group with six points.

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“A lot had to be said [following the defeat to Austria] and we had to analyze a lot,” he noted. “It was not the tactics where things went wrong. It was mainly the will to win, so we have talked about that and with harsh words.”

The criticism from former midfielder Rafael van der Vaart on Dutch TV channel NOS added to the pressure on Van Dijk. Van der Vaart accused him of showing a lack of passion and called the team’s performance against Austria “disgraceful.”