Virgil van Dijk and Kylian Mbappe faced off against each other on Friday during Holland’s game against France.
Following his two goals against Holland, Kylian Mbappe has been lauded as a difference-maker by Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk.
With a 2-1 victory in Amsterdam, the Paris Saint-Germain striker propelled France into the European Championships in Germany the following summer.
Mbappe scored in the reverse match as Holland was humiliated 4-0 in Paris, giving him four goals in two games against Ronald Koeman’s team.
Van Dijk was criticised for his performance in the similar match in the French capital, but L’Equipe praised him after the disappointing loss on Friday.
With this outcome, Holland will not be in the top two spots in Group B heading into Monday’s pivotal match against Greece. The Liverpool defender will square up against Kostas Tsimikas, his defensive partner who was instrumental in their 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland on the road.
With Oranje holding the advantage going into the last matches of the qualifiers thanks to their victory at the Arriva Stadium, they were able to overtake Holland.
Van Dijk was compelled to admit that the quality of the in-demand striker played a key role in their loss even though he thought they handled Mbappe in other situations adequately.
“I think there were a lot of moments where we were able to stop Kylian Mbappé in his tracks,” the 32-year-old stated.
However, he ended up scoring twice and was named the game’s MVP. The highest level is that.
“The objective situation can frequently be resolved in more than one instance. But we can’t, and then we make a mistake; we need to provide better coverage.
“Unfortunately, in football, players like him can occasionally make the difference. He acted in that manner.”