Kylian Mbappé
Virgil van Dijk has said the Netherlands must stop Kylian Mbappé as a team rather than rely on individuals to nullify the France forward when the two teams meet in the Euro 2024 Group D later this week.
The Dutch took a significant step towards qualification for the knockout stages by beating Poland 2-1 in their tournament opener in Hamburg on Sunday. Another positive result against France will all but confirm a place in the round of 16 for Ronald Koeman’s team.
But with France forward Mbappé going into the Euros having resolved his future by sealing a move to Real Madrid following the expiry of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain, Netherlands captain, Van Dijk, said the 25-year-old is the player who the Dutch simply have to stop.
Netherlands defender, Virgil van Dijk, states that it is a team effort to stop Kylian Mbappé in their group stage game on Friday.
“Look, everyone knows his qualities,” Van Dijk told reporters. “We have to be at our best as a team in order to stop them (France) from scoring, but obviously he is a world class player that can make the difference in one split second.
“But we have to be ready as a team for a different kind of challenge and I think we’ve shown what we can do over the last couple of games.
“We have a top level defence ready to be tested on Friday. That game is now the big one.
“We struggled them in our last couple of games against them but I am looking forward to that. The focus will be on recovery and making sure that everything’s ready for what a huge test that will be.”
The Dutch sealed their win against Poland when substitute Wout Weghorst scored the winner just two minutes after entering the action late in the game.
The post ‘Netherlands Must Stop Mbappé As A Team’ appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
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