In November 2019, Virgil Van Dijk finished second in the race to win the Golden Ball with only 7 votes less than Lionel Messi. The Liverpudlians are sorry, but it seems their star is not. Just a month later, Van Dijk together with the charity Owen McVeigh Foundation organized a Christmas ceremony for 120 children with serious illnesses. There is no spotlight, no comparisons, all that remains is laughter and happiness.
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Perhaps that contrasting picture most realistically depicts Virgil Van Dijk’s life. On the field, he is one of the best contemporary central defenders, a star that any club would like to own. But off the pitch, as the Dutch player himself said, he is just a normal person who wants to help others.
Humility and compassion were nurtured by Van Dijk during difficult years before making his mark on European football fields. At the age of 7, Van Dijk could only practice at WDS, a small club in his hometown in Breda. At 16 years old, he was still washing dishes at a restaurant to pursue his dream of being a football player, and at 20 years old, he had a professional match. first career. People say Van Dijk is a late bloomer, but perhaps that slow start helps him have a more mature mindset both on and off the field.
The restaurant where Van Dijk once served still has his phone number and a Celtic shirt. Van Dijk’s early teachers at WDS also received a Netherlands national team shirt given to them by their former student. And every time Van Dijk talks about Celtic, he always talks about one of the biggest clubs in the world, with a great stadium and fans. After becoming the most expensive midfielder in the world and winning every noble title, Van Dijk still did not forget where his starting point was.
That personality also shapes the playing style of the Dutch midfielder, a confident and extremely calm player. Someone can criticize Van Dijk for his defensive style of “only knowing how to retreat”, but that is the necessary calmness in a team that is always boiling with fire like Liverpool. Marco Van Basten once criticized Van Dijk for creating chaos in the Netherlands national team when he could not cheer on his teammates like an exemplary captain, but perhaps he forgot that Van Dijk was the key factor in bringing a team together. Infertile Dutch star comes to the 2022 World Cup.
Van Dijk is like that. No statements, no explanations, no drama, no noise. When the ball rolls, he shows his voice with qualifications. When the lights went out, he returned to his peaceful life and familiar charity work. After rumors about a strained relationship with his biological father, Van Dijk was selected by UEFA to donate 100 thousand Euros to the Red Cross for a project against domestic violence. Despite criticism above the team, Van Dijk still auctioned his jersey to raise funds for the Dutch deaf team to attend the 2022 Olympics.
Those are just the good things that people know about Van Dijk through the media, and there will certainly be more than the noble gestures that this midfielder, born in 1991, silently performs. Roberto Baggio used to meditate as a way to balance his life, and for Van Dijk, doing charity work helps him stay away from toxic things in the football world and cultivate a more peaceful soul.
On Virgil Van Dijk’s birthday, one can list dozens of titles and qualities of a top midfielder. But somewhere, there are still people who love Van Dijk in a very unique way. To them, whether he was a dishwasher at the age of 16 or a star at the age of 32, Van Dijk was always a man of peace and altruism.
