Virgil van Dijk’s Astonishing Reaction Upon Discovering England’s Euro 2024 Favourites Status
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Virgil van Dijk couldn’t believe it when he was told who the favourites are to win Euro 2024.
On Saturday evening Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to a dramatic comeback victory against Turkey to secure a spot in the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
Turkey – many people’s dark horses at the tournament – took the lead 10 minutes before half-time, but two goals in quick succession in the final 20 minutes turned the game in the Netherlands’ favour.
After scraping through into the knockout stages as one of the best third-place finishers in the group stage, Ronald Koeman’s side beat Romania 3-0 before then seeing off Turkey.
Van Dijk and the Netherlands will now meet England in the semi-finals on Wednesday, and the Liverpool star was shocked when he was told that the Three Lions are the favourites to win the whole tournament.
Speaking ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix in May, Sky Sports F1 correspondent Craig Slater relayed the news to the Reds star, who seemed surprised.
After being told that England are the favourites, the star defender replied: “Are they?!”
The 32-year-old, however, admits England have a strong squad as he also mentioned France.
“England has a very, very good team and squad,” he added. “France is very strong.”
Spain, who set up a semi-final showdown with France by beating tournament hosts Germany 2-1, are now the bookies’ favourite.
England booked their place in the semi-finals with a penalty shootout victory against Switzerland on Saturday.
Gareth Southgate’s side have failed to impress in Germany, but they have showed impressive resilience and mental strength by pulling off a late comeback win against Slovakia before scoring all five of their penalties against the Swiss.
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England’s last Euros campaign was ended in the final in 2021, when they lost to Italy on penalties.
Asked if his side are capable of going one step further, Gareth Southgate replied: “I’d be an idiot if I said no, but if I said yes, that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of work ahead of us.
“There’s no doubt what is possible. The team has been close already. They know what is possible, they know what they’ve won at club level and what that’s taken.
“And equally, you can see cup football, which we’re going into, we know you have to navigate game by game and qualify from the group.
“But in knockout football, the Champions League showed that Man City and Arsenal were in the best three teams this year and didn’t get to where they wanted to, as it’s one moment and fine margins.
“That is our world. You have to deliver on those moments. But are we one of those teams who can win? Of course, absolutely.”
