Virgil Van Dijk called Sadio Mane to joke that the Liverpool pair would be drawn together in the World Cup, days before they were.
Speaking to reporters before Liverpool’s game against Benfica on Tuesday, Van Dijk detailed his discussion with his teammate.
“I called him after he qualified and I said to him obviously well done and we joked about it, that we are going to be in the same group and it happened,” Van Dijk said via Liverpool FC on YouTube.
The centre-back said that he’s expecting a tough match from Mane’s team.
“It’s going to be so hard. They are the African champions, fantastic players, and we as well. It’s going to be difficult. So much respect for Senegal and what they’ve achieved, but we have to be ready as well,” he said.
From a Liverpool point of view it’ll be interesting to see how Virgil deals with the player he has played alongside for two different clubs.
Performing on the world stage
Amazingly, this year’s World Cup will be Van Dijk’s first ever international tournament with Holland.
The Dutch failed to qualify for the 2018 edition and injury robbed him of the chance to lead his country at last summer’s European Championship.
Virgil is potentially one of the best central defenders the game has ever seen. But until he’s done it on a truly global stage like the World Cup, there will be some out there who simply won’t accept that being the case.
Hopefully he can continue his current form right the way up until the competition starts in Qatar in November.
Holland don’t have quite the same level of player in their squad as in years gone by. However, they’ll back themselves to get out of a group containing Senegal, Qatar and Ecuador.
With Van Dijk’s calm leadership and experience of winning knock-out tournaments, perhaps they will be a dark horse.
Should he lead his country to a good tournament this winter, it will only strengthen what Liverpool fans already know – that the 30-year-old is the absolute best in the business.
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