If any Liverpool player could be forgiven for keeping one eye on the upcoming World Cup during the early stages of this season, it would surely be Virgil van Dijk.
Only last summer, the Dutchman missed out on what would have been the first major tournament appearance of his career as a result of a serious knee injury suffered at Everton the previous October.
He was, in fact, fit enough to have made an appearance at those delayed Euros, but chose to stay home in order not to run the risk of a setback in his rehabilitation.
And that decision was rewarded with a return to his imperious best as Liverpool took a quadruple charge to the final weeks of the last campaign.
Clearly, the fact that a mid-season World Cup awaited just 18 months later played a big part in convincing Van Dijk to take a patient approach to his international ambitions.
So, with that long-term goal now agonisingly close to being realised, it is only fair to ask if the defender’s focus on club matters might be affected.
However, the man himself has now emphatically insisted that is not the case, and said: “If you think about this I think you are going to have issues in my opinion. It is just game-by-game and that includes international football.
“[Beating Ajax] was a big one for us, now I and certain players have internationals and other players will train and play friendlies in order to stay fit and get fit and we will get players back after the internationals.
“For me it is two games against Poland and Belgium and then it is Brighton so that will be the focus. I'm not focusing on what is happening in November.”
How the Netherlands qualified for World Cup 2022
-
HOW THE NETHERLANDS QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CUP 2022: (Group G): March 24, 2021. Turkey 4 (Yilmaz (15', pen 34', 81'), Calhanoglu 46') Netherlands 2 (Klaassen 75', De Jong 76'): A disastrous start to the campaign for the Dutch as a Burak Yilmaz hat-trick condemned Frank de Boer's team to defeat, with Memphis Depay also missing a penalty. De Boer said: “Very disappointing result, and also the way that result came about. Our tempo should have been higher, especially before the break.” AFP -
![March 27, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32', L de Jong 69') Latvia 0. A much-needed pick-me-up for the Dutch after the Turkey defeat with Frank de Boer's side creating a remarkable 37 chances - although only finding the net twice - to kick-start their campaign. “I'm very happy with it and proud,” said Steven Berghuis, who scored his first international goal. “It's what you work hard for. I want to be important for Oranje. It's unbelievable it was [only] 1-0 after the first half.” Getty](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/7ESU4GS5JZFITNMPY75JFAIXDE.jpg?smart=true&auth=058b2626817638f7fc40e6bf8abfaac24a68bb0f62989ca9a7914a74d2d96985&width=400&height=225)
March 27, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32', L de Jong 69') Latvia 0. A much-needed pick-me-up for the Dutch after the Turkey defeat with Frank de Boer's side creating a remarkable 37 chances - although only finding the net twice - to kick-start their campaign. “I'm very happy with it and proud,” said Steven Berghuis, who scored his first international goal. “It's what you work hard for. I want to be important for Oranje. It's unbelievable it was [only] 1-0 after the first half.” Getty -
March 30, 2021. Gibraltar 0 Netherlands 7 (Berghuis 41', L de Jong 55', Depay 61', 88', Wijnaldum 62', Malen 64', Van de Beek 85'): Mission achieved for manager Frank de Boer who had said before the game that he wanted to win by at least five goals, although it took more than 40 minutes for the floodgates to open. De Boer said: “The first 20 minutes were difficult. After that we started creating chances, but we couldn’t convert them and ... it started to get frustrating. But we knew that eventually things would fall into place.” Getty -
September 1, 2021. Norway 1 (Haaland 20') Netherlands (Klaassen 37'): Davy Klaassen scored for the Dutch after Erling Haaland had put Norway into an early lead to earn a point for returning manager Louis van Gaal, who had replaced Frank de Boer who left the role after a disappointing Euro 2020. Van Gaal said: “I told the players that we had been careless. But that’s also because of the way Norway played. We can think that this Dutch national team is world-class, but it is not." AFP -
September 4, 2021. Netherlands 4 (Depay pen 38', 62', Wijnaldum 70', Gakpo 76') Montenegro 0. Memphis Depay reached 30 goals for his country with a double as manager Louis van Gaal earned the first win of his third reign in charge. Van Gaal said: "We started very badly – in the first 15 minutes, we seemed to have stress. But after 15-to-20 minutes we picked ourselves up ... I think that is very good in itself." EPA -
September 7, 2021. Netherlands 6 (Klaassen 1', Depay 16', 38' pen 54', Til 80', Malen 90') Turkey 1 (Under 90+2'): Sweet revenge for the Dutch after their defeat back in March. Memphis Depay grabbed a hat-trick to send Van Gaal's team top of the group. “I enjoy playing," Depay said. "I’m having a great time and I’m in great shape. I’m 27. I had a serious injury, which was now a while back, but I don’t forget it easily. I worked hard, but now I’m back." EPA -
October 8, 2021. Latvia 0 Netherlands 1 (Klaassen 19'): Davy Klaassen grabbed the only goal of the game to make it three victories on the spin for manager Louis van Gaal with the Dutch sitting top of the group by two points. "We should have been better. But three points are very important for qualification,” captain Virgil van Dijk said. AP -
October 11, 2021. Netherlands 6 (Van Dijk 9', Depay 21', pen 45+3'), Dumfries 48', Danjuma 75', Malen 86') Gibraltar 0: Memphis Depay was back in the goals with a double - while also missing a penalty - as the Dutch coasted to an easy victory to maintain their two-point lead at the top over Norway. Van Gaal said: "Aside from the six goals we created an incredible amount of chances and hardly gave any away. I complimented the team on the way they executed the plan, because it was nice to watch." AFP -
November 13, 2021. Montenegro 2 (Vukotic 82', Vujnovic 86') Netherlands 2 (Depay pen 25', 54'): Louis van Gaal's side had looked set to secure progress to Qatar with a game to spare until two goals in the final 10 minutes earned Montenegro a point. Van Gaal said: “We have not performed well, at a stage when we have had it in our hands. I cannot explain it ... we were 2-0 up, and all we had to do was play the ball around. We lost the ball at times when we shouldn't have.” Reuters -
November 16, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Bergwijn 84', Depay 90+1') Norway 0: Two late goals from Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay sealed the Dutch a place in Qatar after a drab game with neither team prepared to take too many attacking risks. "It's actually been a fantastic week because we got to know each other in lows, but also in highs," said Van Gaal. "I really think they executed the plan brilliantly today." EPA
![March 27, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32', L de Jong 69') Latvia 0. A much-needed pick-me-up for the Dutch after the Turkey defeat with Frank de Boer's side creating a remarkable 37 chances - although only finding the net twice - to kick-start their campaign. “I'm very happy with it and proud,” said Steven Berghuis, who scored his first international goal. “It's what you work hard for. I want to be important for Oranje. It's unbelievable it was [only] 1-0 after the first half.” Getty](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/7ESU4GS5JZFITNMPY75JFAIXDE.jpg?smart=true&auth=058b2626817638f7fc40e6bf8abfaac24a68bb0f62989ca9a7914a74d2d96985&width=800&height=450)
The end of this latest international break will mark the start of a six-week countdown to the 2022 World Cup, a period in which players are sure to face further accusations of playing within themselves in order to avoid missing out.
That will be nothing new for Van Dijk, whose personal injury history and talismanic status in Jurgen Klopp’s team have seen him singled out for criticism during what has been a mixed start to the new season for the collective.
The 31-year-old is adamant, though, that he wants to be in the best possible condition heading to Qatar, and believes he can only achieve that aim by giving his all in every game.
“Not at all, not at all. I can assure you that is definitely not the case,” he said of claims he might prioritise avoiding injury in the coming weeks.
“Obviously I am very excited to lead the boys out there and do as good as we can but we are not in the situation because of that.
“I would understand because of the start we had everyone is looking for 'Why?' because the difference is too big, but I can assure you that is definitely not one of the reasons.
“You focus on the game at the time and that's definitely what we're doing. I can only speak for myself and I wouldn't worry about me.
“I want to go but to be ready, in my opinion, is not to focus on hopefully not getting injured, it is just keep playing, get fit, stay fit and get in a good moment and I think today we had a good step and hopefully we can carry that on after the internationals."
