Virgil van Dijk offered some uplifting words to his Liverpool teammate following Scotland’s crushing defeat in the European Championship opener.
Virgil van Dijk offered some uplifting words to his Liverpool teammate following Scotland’s crushing defeat in the European Championship opener.
The tournament kicked off on Friday night with the host nation Germany facing Scotland in Munich, amidst an electrified atmosphere.
Germany quickly took control of the match, with Florian Wirtz finding the net just 10 minutes in, followed by Jamal Musiala doubling the lead shortly thereafter. Scotland’s hopes of staging a comeback were dashed when Ryan Porteous conceded a penalty and received a straight red card just before halftime, with Kai Havertz converting from the spot.
The onslaught continued in the second half with goals from Niclas Fullkrug and Emre Can, while an own goal by Antonio Rudiger gave Scotland a late consolation.
Predictably, the Scottish team faced heavy criticism for their lackluster performance, with captain Andy Robertson bearing the brunt of the blame.
Ahead of his own match against Poland on Saturday afternoon, Van Dijk shared his support for Robertson in a statement via Liverpool Echo. “I think Robbo will be fine, he’s the captain there. It’s never easy to deal with situations like that, but I’m very confident that he will be fine and lead the Scottish nation to better days.”
Scotland will look to rebound in their next match against Switzerland on Wednesday night. The Swiss, who are coming off an impressive 3-1 victory over Hungary last Saturday, now sit second in the group.
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