Van Dijk: 'We practiced kicking 11m a lot'
"We practiced kicking 11m a lot. Everything was in place, until tonight," Van Dijk said after the quarter-final at Lusail Stadium on the evening of December 9.
In the penalty shootout, Van Dijk scored the first Dutch goal. He did not complete the task when he shot into the hand of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Soon after, teammate Steven Berghuis also failed.
In contrast, Argentina only missed the result of Enzo Fernandez in the fourth round, thereby winning 4-3. Three successful players for the Netherlands include Koopmeiners, Weghorst and Luuk De Jong. And Argentina kicked in thanks to Messi, Paredes, Montiel and Lautaro Martinez.
Before the penalty shootout, the Netherlands made a strong impression with the comeback. After conceding two goals in the 35th and 73rd minutes, substitute Wout Weghorst shortened the lead in the 83rd minute and leveled the score at 90+11 for the "Orange whirlwind". The Netherlands also stood firm in the extra time, although Argentina had more chances.
Another Dutch centre-back, Nathan Ake, said: "Emotionally, it's hard to accept losing like that. However, we fought and gave our best. We bid farewell to the World Cup with our heads held high. head high".
This was the Netherlands' second consecutive defeat on penalties at the World Cup against Argentina. In the 2014 semi-final, the Netherlands lost to the opponent from South America with a score of 2-4. Before that, "Orange whirlwind" also lost to Brazil 2-4 in the penalty shootout of the 1998 World Cup semi-final.
At Euro, the Netherlands also failed many times on the 11m mark. In three consecutive tournaments, they lost to Denmark 4-5 in the semi-finals in 1992, lost to France 4-5 in the quarter-finals in 1996 and lost 1-3 to Italy in the semi-finals in 2000.
In the 2022 World Cup, the Netherlands were unbeaten in all four matches before meeting Argentina. Van Dijk and his teammates won Senegal 2-0, drew Ecuador 1-1, and won against Qatar 2-0 in the round. group and USA 3-1 in the 1/8 round.
