Champions League winners Van Dijk & Wijnaldum given hero's welcome by Netherlands squad

Dejan Kalinic

Champions League winners Van Dijk & Wijnaldum given hero's welcome by Netherlands squad image

Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum received a warm welcome from their Netherlands team-mates after winning the Champions League with Liverpool.

The duo started as Liverpool overcame Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday to win their first trophies with the club.

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And they were enthusiastically received by their international team-mates on Monday as Netherlands prepare for the Nations League Finals.

Van Dijk and Wijnaldum were applauded by the squad and staff, including coach Ronald Koeman, as they arrived in camp.

The players even broke into song for Wijnaldum, chanting about the midfielder.

Netherlands face England in the semi-finals in Guimaraes on Thursday before either playing a final or third-place play-off three days later.

They will be in confident mood after watching key man Van Dijk’s performance in Madrid, with the centre-back effectively shutting down a below-par Harry Kane.

A resurgent Dutch side have been in superb form on the international scene, with two wins over Germany, a 2-0 victory over world champions France and a draw with World Cup bronze medallists Belgium in the last eight months alone.

For England, meanwhile, captain Kane will be hoping to start having fought his way back to fitness but, following his ineffective performance against Liverpool, Gareth Southgate may prefer a more match-ready replacement.

Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Eric Dier are all involved in the Three Lions squad having played in Saturday’s final, though Spurs pair Harry Winks and Kieran Tripper didn’t make the final 23-man cut.

With so many participants from Madrid likely to be lining up against each other, it gives a fascinating edge to the Nations League’s inaugural finals.

Whoever wins the tie will be favourites to claim the first title, with either Portugal or Switzerland awaiting in the final following their game on Wednesday.

For England, it would represent a satisfying reward for their progress in recent years after coming so close in Russia last summer.

Having failed to qualify for the World Cup, meanwhile, the Netherlands would confirm their return to the top end of the international game following a difficult spell since their run to the 2014 semi-finals.

Dejan Kalinic