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#2 Captain of a rejuvenated Dutch national team
After embarrassingly failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Dutch national side have undergone a major overhaul under new manager Ronald Koeman. The former Everton boss reconstituted the Oranje team, appointing Van Dijk as captain, and the new-look Netherlands team went on to post impressive results. The fact that they topped a UEFA Nations League group, which included France and Germany, is testament to their quality.
The youthful side which also includes Liverpool's Georgino Wijnaldum, Ajax starlets Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt and Lyon talisman Memphis Depay had a bad start to the UEFA Nations League with a narrow 2-1 loss to world champions France. However, they overturned their fortunes quickly, defeating Germany 3-0 at home, with Van Dijk dominating the likes of Timo Werner and Thomas Muller. In the return fixture against France, Netherlands were dominant again, winning 2-0, with Van Dijk nullifying the threats of Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezman.
Netherlands head to face England in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals on 7th June and with Van Dijk in such a rich vein of form, they are one of the favourites to lift the title and return the Dutch national side to its former glory.
