Virgil van Dijk questioned England's Euro 2024-winning credentials two months ago (Image: Getty)
Virgil van Dijk questioned whether England were favourites for Euro 2024 before the tournament kicked off. The Three Lions could now use his comments as motivation before they meet the Liverpool defender and his Netherlands team-mates in the semi-final next week.
England defeated Switzerland to set up a tie against the Dutch in the last-four, to be played in Dortmund on Wednesday. Ronald Koeman’s side came from behind to beat dark horses Turkey. The match-up poses the possibility of Van Dijk’s previous comments coming back to haunt the Netherlands captain.
Approached by Sky Sports F1 reporter Martin Brundle before the Monaco Grand Prix in May, Van Dijk was told that England were favourites for the tournament. He paused before pointedly responding: “Are they?”
The 32-year-old admitted that England have a good squad and pointed out that France are also strong. Les Blues and Spain play in the other semi-final on Tuesday evening.
"England has a very, very good team and squad," Van Dijk continued. "France is very strong."
Manager Gareth Southgate might want to make his players clear of Van Dijk’s thoughts to give his players extra motivation heading into the match. Coaches often pin such messages to the dressing-room wall.
Meanwhile, England have come under scrutiny for a perceived favourable draw at Euro 2024. The Three Lions played Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia in the group stages. Slovakia and Switzerland have been defeated in the knockout rounds.
Southgate hit back at a German journalist who questioned England’s easier matches at recent tournaments, even arguing that the Germany beaten by the Three Lions in 2020 was relatively poor. Southgate pointed out that it included eight Champions League winners.
Gareth Southgate has dismissed questions over the quality of England's opponents (Image: Getty)
The England boss continued: “Look, the teams we've played are because we won our group.
“If you go back through history, England had different routes to the final because we didn't win our group. I understand of course, you'd rather not have to jump the Grand National to win the tournament.
“Most teams, when you have back-to-back games - two, three, four games against big nations - the margins are so fine and then those games end up quite even. You win one, you lose one - so it's very tough to go through those processes.
“I'm not really sure what to say, it's the madness of this job - but it's been an enjoyable night and I will try to keep it that way.”
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