Virgil van Dijk Biography, Facts, Childhood, Career, Net Worth, Life
Virgil van Dijk (born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who played as the centre-back of the English Premier League club Liverpool and captained the Netherlands national team. Considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is known for his strength, leadership and air skills.
In 2012 he voted UEFA Men’s Best Player of the Year and finished runner-up for Ballon d’Or and The Best FIFA Men’s Player. After starting his professional life with Groningen, Van Dijk moved to Celtic in 2013, where he won the Scottish Premiership and named to the PFA Scotland squad for his two seasons with the club, winning the Scottish League Cup as well.
In September 2015, he joined Premier League team Southampton before signing for Liverpool in exchange for a £75 million deal for Liverpool, this time a world record transfer fee for a defender.
During the first spring in Liverpool, Van Dijk involved in the finals of the 2018 UEFA Champions League. In his first full season, Van Dijk was named the PFA Player of the Year and Premier League’s best player of the 2018-19 season. Liverpool won the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final where Van Dijk selected as Man of the Match.
The following season he played in the club’s winning 2019 FIFA Club World Cup final. Van Dijk made his international debut for the Netherlands in 2015 and became the captain of his country in 2018.
In 2018, he scored his first international goal with a 3-0 win over European champion Portugal. He later took part in their inaugural 2019 UEFA Nations League final where they finished runners-up.
Early life and career
Van Dijk was born in Brada to a Dutch father and mother of Suriname. As he grew up, he played football wherever he could on the road, in the compact cage, and finally on Saturday mornings. He connected his time at William II Academy with part-time work at Dishwasher. Prior to and unsuccessfully featured as a right-back.
Van Dijk moved to a central defensive position in 2008 at the age of 17, after rising to a height of about 18 cm. Despite the positional change and Van Dijk’s physical growth, reserve manager Edwin Hermans, the second Willem, believed he had “too many limitations” that stopped him from getting into the first team.
In 2010, he scolded by former Dutch international Martin Koeman, who currently working for FC Groningen, and he finished a free transfer to the club that same year.
Club Career
Van Dijk began his youthful career in 2009 with William II before transferring to Groningen in 2010 with a free transfer. He made his professional debut for Groningen on 1 May 2011, against Edio Den Haag, coming up with a 72-minute substitute in a 4-2 win.
On 21 June 2013, Van Dijk signed a four-year contract with Celtic with a 10% sale-on fee for Groningen, with a fee of about $ 2.6 million. On 17 August, he made his debut for Celtic, as a replacement for the final 13 minutes of the Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen 2-0 at Pittsburgh Stadium. Read More…….
International career
Van Dijk made his international debut for the Netherlands on 10 October 2015, with a 2-1 win away from home against Kazakhstan in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier. On 22 March 2018, he awarded the manager Ronald Koeman from his country’s captaincy, And his first match as captain was a 1-0 home-friendly defeat to England the next day.
He scored his first international goal to finish with a 3-0 win over European champions Portugal in Stade de Genève On 2 March,. On 14 October, he defeated the 2014 World Cup champion Germany in the UEFA Nations League 3-0.
Style of play
Virgil van Dijk is a physically strong, right-back center-back, who usually appears on the left side of the central defense, though he can also play as a right-center center-back. He has the speed, the good technique, and the eye to score goals, and he is an effective set-piece tackler. Former Celtic teammate Chris Commons commented on his qualifications that Van Dijk was “comfortable on the ball.” He was good at set-picks, the few free-kicks he made for Celtic were absolutely wonderful.
He could read the game well. He had an aura about him, confidence because I think he knew he was good. Van Dijk praised as a “very smooth ball-player defender” who possesses aerobic skills, skills from dead-ball situations and “strong leadership qualities” and comments that since moving to England. McGuinness believes Van Dijk’s “biggest problem” is that he can switch off when “the game is comfortable.”
In a 2012 interview with Marca, when Lionel Messi asked why it was so challenging to beat Van Dijk, the Argentine responded: “He’s a defender who knows how to judge his time and wait for the right moment to challenge or jockey.
He is very quick and significant, but he has a lot of agility for his height. He is fast because of his significant progress. And he is impressive in both defense and attack because he has a lot of goals.
Virgil van Dijk Family Life
Van Dijk blessed with a supportive wife, Ryke Knuttegadget, who quit his job to support Van Dijk throughout his football career. He is back at the beginning of Van Dijk’s career as a couple. The couple has a daughter named Neela van Dijk.
Van Dijk changed his name in his jersey to his first name from his surname 2018. According to his uncle, it attributed to the split between Van Dijk and his father. The fracture is the result of a deep-seated bitterness to his father in Liverpool for leaving his mother and his three children. Which includes Van Dijk, his younger brother Jordan, and sister Jennifer.
Sponsorship of Virgil van Dijk
Van Dijk has appeared as the cover star of the champion version of FIFA 20, the FIFA video game of EA Sports and He also supports the sportswear company Nike.