The Netherlands play better without their captain

Was Virgil van Dijk secretly jinxing the Netherlands? Bizarre clean sheet stat leaves fans baffled
Was Virgil van Dijk secretly jinxing the Netherlands? Bizarre clean sheet stat leaves fans baffled
No clean sheets in 12 games

Virgil van Dijk / Photo: Getty Images
The Netherlands finally kept a clean sheet, and the timing has created a rather bizarre coincidence involving Virgil van Dijk.

Oranje thrashed Greece 7-0 in the Nations League on Friday night, recording their first shutout since November 2025. However, there is one particularly interesting detail: Van Dijk had featured in every Netherlands match during that run without a clean sheet, but was absent when his country finally managed to keep one.

The Liverpool captain had played in all 12 of the Netherlands’ matches between their last clean sheet, a 4-0 victory over Lithuania in November 2025, and the latest meeting with Greece. He was unavailable for Friday’s game after being withdrawn from the squad because he was not fit enough to feature.

The run had included several frustrating results.

❌ 2-1 vs Norway

❌ 1-1 vs Ecuador

❌ 0-1 vs Algeria

❌ 2-1 vs Uzbekistan

❌ 2-2 vs Japan

❌ 5-1 vs Sweden

❌ 3-1 vs Tunisia

❌ 1-1 vs Morocco

❌ 1-1 vs Germany

❌ 2-1 vs Serbia

❌ 2-2 vs Greece

❌ 2-1 vs Serbia

✅ 7-0 vs Greece

Van Dijk wasn’t dropped by head coach Xavi; the 35-year-old withdrew from the national camp on Monday after returning from Liverpool’s Premier League win at Crystal Palace with a minor fitness issue.

In his absence, Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven stepped into central defence alongside Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke, flanked by Denzel Dumfries and Jurriën Timber. Behind them, goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen enjoyed one of the quietest evenings of his international career, making just a single save as Greece mustered only one shot on target all night.

At the other end, Xavi’s attack ran riot—led by Tijjani Reijnders, who became the first Dutch player since Marco van Basten in 1990 to score a first-half hat-trick, alongside a brace from Timber and goals from Crysencio Summerville and Donyell Malen.