Recently, Virgil van Dijk was signed by the travel agency Expedia (part of the Expedia group), becoming an ambassador to promote the city of Liverpool. Immediately after this signing ceremony, the Dutch midfielder was interviewed by The Times. This interview brings Van Dijk’s shares about Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp and his wife Rike Nooitgedagt.
The interviewer, Polly Vernon of The Times, could not hide her admiration for Van Dijk’s masculine appearance. In her article, Polly Vernon described: “Van Dijk strode around the Cavern Club (where the deal was signed), which was also the birthplace of The Beatles, exuding captain’s energy from every pore, bringing excitement to the crowd of journalists, sales staff and marketing managers. He listened attentively to the necessary comments, gave directions when people needed to move, and enlivened the atmosphere with timely witticisms.”
Polly Vernon added: “Am I being too presumptuous in describing Van Dijk’s physical appeal? But the 6ft 32-year-old has an irresistible muscular appeal, and he looks comfortable in his tall frame – constantly reaching for the ceiling of the Cavern. His angular cheekbones and symmetrical smile add to his gentleness. Van Dijk even… smells so good, in fact, striker Troy Deeney once exclaimed: ‘I hate Van Dijk, I hate playing against him. He’s too tall, too strong, too quick, too good with the ball and… he smells so good.’”
“Don’t get me wrong ,” Polly Vernon concludes, before the real conversation begins, “Van Dijk has no intention of flirting. He’s not interested in being recognised for his good looks, nor is he trying to exploit them; he just accepts them – accepts that they’ll get better photos playing drums on the Cavern stage or standing at the bow of a boat touring the harbour, all in the service of the greater good of the day. For me, that’s the energy of a captain. I feel like I’m on Van Dijk’s team, experiencing what it’s like to be led by him, called upon, supported and protected by him. And I have to tell you: it’s a great feeling!”
Van Dijk says he can speak with a Liverpool Scouse accent, having played for Scotland at Celtic: “Funnily enough, coming to Scotland and learning English the Scottish way helped me a lot later on. I mean, I didn’t learn English the easy way. I learned it from Scottish guys, but it also helped me understand different dialects. Because in England, we have so many dialects: Scouse, Manchester, Birmingham, London – you could say the real London accent.”
Van Dijk joined Willem II’s academy at the age of eight, but as he got older, reserve team assistant coach Edwin Hermens deemed Van Dijk “too limited” to be worthy of a place in the club’s first team. This meant he was not offered a professional contract and had to wash dishes in a restaurant to earn extra money. “But for me, it was normal,” Van Dijk said. “At that age – 16, 17 – you want to earn a little bit more. Later on, my wife and I were very clear and made sure that our children had to earn money at some point in their lives.”
At 19, Van Dijk was signed on a free transfer by FC Groningen, where he broke into the first team. However, a few days after his 20th birthday in 2012, he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. Van Dijk had to undergo surgery or his life would be in danger. “That period was really difficult,” Van Dijk says. “But there was a reason for it. Later on, I learned a lot about nutrition. It made me realise how important nutrition is.”
Before, Van Dijk ate McDonald’s all the time? “No McDonald’s! But by the way, I really like McDonald’s.”
After playing for Celtic and Southampton, Van Dijk officially joined Liverpool in December 2017, for a fee of £75 million. Why did he choose Liverpool, despite being sought after by many clubs, even rumours about Barcelona?
“No, no, no, not Barcelona at the time but, yeah (other teams had made offers). I made the decision with my wife, obviously, but it was all based on the feeling you get when you look at the city, look at the club, talk to the manager, talk to the players that I knew before I joined. The interesting thing is, my wife said from the beginning, ‘It’s going to be Liverpool.’ No matter what the roof says, she always has a good feeling about things.”
Regarding Jurgen Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season, Van Dijk said: “I’m not angry with him at all, I’m just a little sad when he told me that decision in the team meeting before training. Because it’s the end of an era. I never thought I would play at Liverpool without Klopp as manager. If you think about Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp is one of the first people you think of. He is part of the culture of the city. And the success we’ve had since he came to the club is simply amazing. But I think Klopp made that decision for himself and his family, and he needed a year off. I’m sure Klopp will be back in management soon, because he lives and breathes football. We’ll see.”
Did any Liverpool players cry when Klopp announced the news? “No. Just a little bit of… silence. The impromptu meeting was before training, so it was quiet, then we just changed, went out and trained and everything was normal. I sent a message to the players’ group chat, to make sure we were all on the same page, nothing changed until the end of the season, and then Klopp will have what will hopefully be the best farewell he can imagine.”
If Klopp is a defining figure in Van Dijk’s career, the other person who (based on how often he mentions this woman, how often he consults her and her presence at events) has had a significant influence on his life is his wife Rike Nooitgedagt.
Rike Nooitgedagt is a determined, strong woman with a face like a porcelain doll. Without even appearing, she has left her mark on Van Dijk’s photo shoot. The outfits he wears all have to be approved by her, one of which Van Dijk wears but has to constantly be cautious ‘Yes, I like this one, but wait until my wife comes to see how it looks…’ Clearly, she is the final decision maker in these cases (and probably many others).
Van Dijk also shared: “I always try to dress well. I really like to invest a little in my appearance and I have people who know my fashion sense to advise me. No one else but my wife.”
Polly Vernon spent just over ten minutes chatting with Van Dijk’s wife, but the reporter had to say: “I wouldn’t want to get into trouble with her.”
“Rike and I first met when we were in our early twenties,” Van Dijk says. “She was a little older than me, but it was definitely a youthful age.”
Footballers and coaches, for the most part, prefer to settle down early so they can focus on their football careers without the hassle of emotional breakups. That’s why they often marry their childhood sweethearts. Is Van Dijk an exception?
“Yes, 100%. I feel like she is the backbone of our family, the six of us – I have four kids. She is the glue that holds everything together. I fell in love with her right away, it was love at first sight. From our first conversations, we were very open about our goals for the relationship, which was marriage.”
Married in 2017, Van Dijk and Rike Nooitgedagt currently have four children, three girls and a boy. His relationship with his biological father, Ron Van Dijk, is not very smooth. When he was only 11 years old, Ron left his family, including his wife Hellen Chin Fo Sieeuw and three children (Van Dijk also has a younger brother and sister). Initially, the Dutch midfielder moved to live with his father but then returned to his mother. Since then, Ron has not kept in touch with his son. According to Van Dijk’s uncle, Steven Fo Sieeuw, this is the reason why the 32-year-old player chose the name “Virgil” on his shirt instead of “Van Dijk”.
Steven Fo Sieeuw told The Sun in 2018: “Virgil’s father was absent during the crucial years. It was Helen who was the real hero. There was a reason for removing the surname from the shirt, and Virgil showed his feelings.”
That past hasn’t stopped Van Dijk from getting married and having kids. In fact, a lot of them. “Funnily enough, I always said I wanted five kids,” Van Dijk says. “But four is enough.”
At the same time, his previous relationship with his father also helped Van Dijk learn lessons in raising children: “I have been through a lot in this life. I have learned a lot from the past. For example, in football, experiences will shape who you are now, but the same is true in life. Everything I went through when I was young, I absorbed. There are things you want to make sure to pass on to your children and there are also things you have to make sure not to repeat.”
Karaoke is one of Van Dijk’s effective parenting methods. If he needs to help his children release energy, especially his eldest child who is only 9 years old, Van Dijk will turn on the karaoke machine and let them sing freely until they are tired.
“Listen, music is very important. I can tell you that almost every night from 6 to 7 o’clock, which is the kids’ bedtime, we always have music on. Dancing is a regular activity in our house. My son hears any rhythm, and he’s dancing all over the house. Me too, my brother and I, we’re always dancing. I can do a little breakdancing. Music in general is very important. It can also take you back in time. Like when you listen to a song from 10 years ago, it can take you back in time. When I was in the hospital with appendicitis, Coldplay’s Viva La Vida was playing on the TV. So every time I hear that song, it reminds me of that time in the hospital.”
Polly Vernon asked Van Dijk if he hated losing and he replied: “Yes. But to be honest, I’m better at dealing with it now. Obviously, during my time at Liverpool, we didn’t lose that much… I remember the first Champions League final when we lost in Kyiv [in 2018, against Real Madrid], we got home early in the morning, around 6am. It took me a whole day to really accept the result and move on. But being the pillar of the family – being Virgil the father, Virgil the husband – that was the key thing that got me through the tough times.”
