A ‘shocked’ Rafael van der Vaart took aim at Virgil van Dijk as the Netherlands were held to a 2-2 draw in their World Cup opener with Japan, likening the defender’s turning to that of a ‘Boeing 747’.
Van Dijk opened the scoring with a superb header after a goalless first half at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, nodding Ryan Gravenberch’s cross beyond Zion Suzuki to cue rapturous scenes amongst the Orange Army.
But Japan twice fought back to rescue a point from the entertaining group-stage encounter, with Daichi Kamada equalising late on after had Keito Nakamura earlier cancelled out a brilliant strike from Crysencio Summerville.
The result sent the two teams joint top of Group F ahead of Sweden’s opening match with Tunisia on Monday.
It proved a mixed game for Dutch captain Van Dijk, who looked vulnerable at times in defence before breaking the deadlock at the other end of the pitch in the 51st minute.
The towering Liverpool centre-half will no doubt be looking to build on his performance when Ronald Koeman’s side return to action against Sweden next weekend.
‘I have to be honest: I was quite shocked by Van Dijk,’ former Netherlands, Real Madrid and Tottenham midfielder Van der Vaart said in the NOS studio at the half-time break.
‘With him, I thought: that doesn’t look good. Especially while turning.
‘It is proving very difficult. A bit like a Boeing 747 turning.
‘I hope he starts turning a bit faster during the tournament.’
On ITV’s coverage of the contest, Keane instead chose to praise Van Dijk on his display, applauding the centre-back’s ‘fantastic header’ to open the scoring.
‘It was obviously a brilliant delivery from Gravenberch, we know how good they are from set-pieces,’ the ex-Manchester United captain remarked.
‘Van Dijk is obviously on a good run of form in terms of scoring goals. He’s had a tough season.
Some of the deliveries tonight from set-pieces weren’t great but when it comes back to Gravenberch…
‘We saw Japan dropping deeper and deeper and once it goes in it’s an absolutely fantastic header from Van Dijk.
‘He’s such a goal threat, brilliant finish. Going in off the post, brilliant. The way he guided it, there’s no pace in it, but fantastic header.
‘Poor defending, Japan are dropping deeper but it’s beautiful, he’s seen it all the way. Lovely, lovely finish and they were in total control at this stage.’
Facing the Dutch media shortly after the final whistle, Van Dijk admitted his side found it ‘difficult’ to break down a ‘compact’ Japan team.
‘We played against a Japan that kept it very compact. That was difficult,’ he explained.
‘In the end, we start with a draw.
‘We can certainly do better. Onto the next one.’
Gary Neville, meanwhile, picked out Summerville’s goal for special praise, arguably the standout moment of quality in the clash.
‘There weren’t many times that the Dutch got between the lines because obviously Japan, with that 5-4-1 formation, were really compact. They were quite organised, difficult to break down and quite deep,’ the former Manchester United and England right-back said.
‘But Gravenberch gets into a really good space and he does a lot. He quickens up the attack. It’s real quality and Japan just drop off that little bit.
‘Summerville has got good runners around him, there’s a runner on the outside, Donyell Malen just pulls away and all of a sudden he just gets that little bit of space to dip inside.
‘I think the goalkeeper might be a little late to go, maybe he’s unsighted, but Summerville just sets it out beautifully with his left foot and it’s a great goal.’
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