Netherlands and Liverpool FC center-back, Virgil Van Dijk will certainly miss the European Championship in the summer. The Dutchman is yet to completely recover from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has kept him out for seven months.
Virgil Van Djik, 29, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during the Merseyside derby against Everton after a tackle made by English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The Dutchman confirmed on Wednesday that he will not be completely fit for the Euros. It is a big blow for the Dutch national team as Van Dijk is the captain of the current squad and one of the best defenders in the world.
Van Dijk’s recovery has been going pretty well till now as he got operated in October last year in London and spent two months recovering after the procedure. He flew to Dubai with his family, accompanied by Amsterdam-based- physiotherapist Sjoerd Sluijs and spent eight weeks at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.
The Dutchman then came back to Kirkby to carry on with his rehabilitation under the guidance of Liverpool’s medical staff and experts. He’s also been very active on social media and he shared a video recently running comfortably. While talking to in-house media, Van Dijk revealed the reason behind opting out of Euros.
“In this latest stage for myself, I have come to a decision that I had to make: would I be involved in the Euros, yes or no? With everything that is going on, I feel physically it is the right decision that I’ve decided not to go to the Euros and to go into my last phase of rehab during the off-season. So, the full focus will be on pre-season with the club and that’s a realistic goal, so I am looking forward to that.”
He has also started light training and believes will be fit for the next season. He also confirmed that his recovery has been on track. The Premier League winner is aiming to return to first-team training in the summer and prepare for Premier League that will begin in August.
Courtesy of injuries to Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip, Liverpool have not been at their best this season. The title defense went down the hill quickly at the start of 2021 as they are struggling to finish in the top four. Liverpool is currently 6th in the points table with 57 points. They will need favourable results from other games and win the remaining four games to qualify for Champions League.