Kylian Mbappé
Virgil van Dijk has said the Netherlands must stop Kylian Mbappé as a team rather than rely on individuals to nullify the France forward when the two teams meet in the Euro 2024 Group D later this week.
The Dutch took a significant step towards qualification for the knockout stages by beating Poland 2-1 in their tournament opener in Hamburg on Sunday. Another positive result against France will all but confirm a place in the round of 16 for Ronald Koeman’s team.
But with France forward Mbappé going into the Euros having resolved his future by sealing a move to Real Madrid following the expiry of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain, Netherlands captain, Van Dijk, said the 25-year-old is the player who the Dutch simply have to stop.
Netherlands defender, Virgil van Dijk, states that it is a team effort to stop Kylian Mbappé in their group stage game on Friday.
“Look, everyone knows his qualities,” Van Dijk told reporters. “We have to be at our best as a team in order to stop them (France) from scoring, but obviously he is a world class player that can make the difference in one split second.
“But we have to be ready as a team for a different kind of challenge and I think we’ve shown what we can do over the last couple of games.
“We have a top level defence ready to be tested on Friday. That game is now the big one.
“We struggled them in our last couple of games against them but I am looking forward to that. The focus will be on recovery and making sure that everything’s ready for what a huge test that will be.”
The Dutch sealed their win against Poland when substitute Wout Weghorst scored the winner just two minutes after entering the action late in the game.