Strong Netherlands team return to old position after nine years: 'Very surprising'
Virgil van Dijk will win his 100th cap for the Netherlands on Sunday evening. The captain starts in a highly unusual role, on the right side of central defence, alongside the surprise pick Teun Koopmeiners. Theo Janssen has questioned whether the Liverpool veteran (35) will be comfortable on that side.
Head coach Xavi Hernández has chosen Koopmeiners as the left-sided centre-back. The Juventus left-footer comes in for Jurriën Timber, who is being handled with caution after returning from a persistent groin injury.
That switch pushes Van Dijk over to the right. "That is very surprising," Janssen begins. "Especially because Virgil has indicated for a long time that he wants to play on the left. He is left-oriented."
"So I am curious to see how he will do and whether he feels uncomfortable in that position." Presenter Sjoerd van Ramshorst points out that Van Dijk last played on the right of central defence for the Netherlands nine years ago, and for Liverpool eight years ago. "I think that says enough," Janssen replies.
"It is not his position, he says that himself as well. I am curious to see how he does today," Janssen said. Xavi later offered an explanation. "I explained to him during our first meeting that he might have to adapt."
As captain and leader, Van Dijk will do that for the team, according to Xavi. "He is the captain, the leader. He will certainly adapt for the team. Especially today, the day he earns his 100th cap," Xavi says, before turning to Koopmeiners. "He is playing as a central defender because we expect we will need very good build-up play."
"He is good at finding the free man and can switch the play. He can pass and build up play very well. We want to attack and defend better, and Koop is suited to that," Xavi concludes.
Netherlands line-up: Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Dijk, Koopmeiners, Van de Ven; Veerman, Reijnders, Gravenberch; Summerville, Meerdink, Lang.
Serbia line-up: V. Milinkovic-Savic; Gudelj, Babic, Pavlovic, Terzic; Nedeljkovic, Lukic, Stankovic, Samardzic; Cvetkovic, Tadic.
