“I completely understand the criticism,” Van Dyke said. “Things in general can and should be better.” Maybe we’re overestimating ourselves.”
Perhaps of most concern to Holland fans, the 32-year-old admitted it was a lack of effort rather than a poor game plan that led to the defeat.
“There was a lot to say [after the defeat] and a lot to analyse,” he added.
“It wasn’t the tactics that went wrong.” Mostly it was the will to win, so we talked about it even with harsh words.
Ralf Rangnik’s Austria were the surprise package of the tournament and were first in a group that included France with six points.
And that after a 1-0 loss to Les Bleus in their first game of the tournament. A 3-1 win over Poland followed before Van Dijk came on for Marcel Sabicer’s side and scored in the 80th minute to secure a thrilling three points.
Responding to criticism of his own performance in Berlin, Van Dijk said: “I’m not stupid. I also know I can do better and it should be better, and that’s what I’m working on.”
The Netherlands will meet Romania in the final on Tuesday and could meet Austria again in the quarter-finals if they progress.
When asked about his team’s performance during the group stage, Van Dijk replied: “For example, after the game against France, we didn’t hear anything about this. And then everything was compact. We also saved a goal.
“So after one bad game, it’s not a reason to panic, but it opened our eyes. If you continue with this line, we have nothing to play for. That’s something that became clear. So this is what we talked about as a group, if you want to achieve something, then we have to change a lot of things or just go home.
“We talk to each other, what we should have done on the field. So that’s something we’ve been very clear with each other and that’s probably why we can’t control everyone’s emotions and feelings.
“Everyone has to deal with it in their own way.” But in my eyes, we talked about us to each other after the last game. It feels a little different than how it’s been done in the past.”
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