Virgil van Dijk handed low ratings as Dutch media claim 'things went wrong' for Liverpool captain

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Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo all suffered an early exit from the World Cup, with Liverpool's captain criticized for his performance in the Netherlands' defeat to MoroccoVirgil van Dijk was criticized for his performance as the Netherlands were knocked out of the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)Virgil van Dijk has borne the brunt of the criticism following the Netherlands’ exit from the World Cup, with the Dutch media giving the Liverpool captain a harsh verdict on his performance against Morocco.The Netherlands crashed out of the tournament at the first stage of the knockouts, falling to a penalty shootout defeat after drawing 1-1. The result means it’s an early return to Liverpool for Van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo, who join Florian Wirtz in exiting the World Cup early.Gakpo had looked to have won the game when he scored 18 minutes from time, only for Issa Diop to equalize in added time before Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all missed during the shootout for the Dutch.Van Dijk could only watch on as his teammates failed from the spot, and some of the Dutch media has not reacted too kindly to the defender’s performance.Voetbal International gave Van Dijk a 5/10 rating, the joint-lowest score for the players alongside Nathan Ake as manager Ronald Koeman was awarded 4/10.

Gravenberch and Gakpo were both rated 6/10.Voetbal Primeur was more complimentary to Van Dijk, awarding him a 6.5, although it did acknowledge that his performance suffered later on in the game.Virgil van Dijk reacts after the Netherlands are beaten by Morocco in a penalty shootout(Image: Getty Images)“In the attrition battle between the Netherlands and Morocco, Van Dijk was the leader ‘we’ needed for a long time,” it wrote.“The captain had his affairs in order, coached continuously (can anyone do better?) and radiated that the Orange would not fall over. He did not take a penalty, after his miss four years ago against Argentina.”Gravenberch was also awarded a 6.5, with his verdict reading: “As always, Gravenberch played with his head, but this time maybe a little too much.

“Gakpo was not in the game for seventy minutes, which will have had everything to do with the loss of his unborn son Elijah Raphael.“And then he scored. It had to be Gakpo.