Soccer

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk leaves Netherlands squad on medical grounds

The 33-year-old centre-back played 90 minutes in Saturday’s Nations League win over Hungary.

Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk has returned to Liverpool for assessment (Patrick Post/AP)
Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk has returned to Liverpool for assessment (Patrick Post/AP) (Patrick Post/AP)

Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk has been withdrawn from their squad on medical grounds and has returned to Liverpool for assessment.

The 33-year-old centre-back played 90 minutes in Saturday’s Nations League win over Hungary but with the team already qualified for the quarter-finals it was not deemed necessary for him to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina for Tuesday’s final match.

In a statement Liverpool said Van Dijk “will return to the AXA Training Centre this week for assessment ahead of the Reds’ campaign resuming with a trip to Southampton on Sunday.”

In a post on the Netherlands’ team’s X account coach Ronald Koeman said: “For both Frenkie (De Jong) and Virgil it is better for them to leave the training camp at this moment.

“That decision was taken on medical grounds, with of course the interest of the players coming first.”