Virgil van Dijk: It was a solid win

Captain Dijk says Netherlands almost gave nothing away in their 2-0 win over Norway to qualify for World Cup

Two late goals by Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay on Tuesday saw the Netherlands book a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as they held Norway at bay with a 2-0 victory in Rotterdam.  

Bergwijn, the standout player of the evening on the right wing, drilled the ball into the roof of the net following an assist by Arnaut Danjuma after a lacklustre 83 minutes that saw both sides struggle to create chances.

Virgil van Dijk

Bergwijn, Depay score

Bergwijn again played a key role in the Dutch’s second goal a few minutes later, after a counter-attack saw him run almost the length of the field before passing the ball to Depay, who slotted it past a diving Orjan Nyland.

Depay’s 12th goal of the qualifying campaign rounded off the evening for the Netherlands, who only needed a draw against Norway to finish top of Group G ahead of Turkey and the Norwegians. “They stuck to the game plan, they were a lot more compact,” Dutch coach Louis van Gaal told the NOS public broadcaster. 

Van Gaal admitted he was “worried that things could go wrong”, especially after the his side’s shocking 2-2 draw against Montenegro over the weekend when they let a two-goal lead slip in the final 10 minutes.

Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk praised his team, saying: “It was a solid win, we almost gave nothing away.” Depay said it was “an emotional game.” “We played with everything we had today and we are going to Qatar,” he said.

Argentina make it

Meanwhile, Argentina qualified for next year’s World Cup in Qatar as a point in their 0-0 draw with Brazil on Tuesday proved enough after defeats for Chile and Uruguay. 

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