Van Dijk blasts 'awful, outrageous' Dutch World Cup performance

 THE HAGUE - Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk blasted his team's second-half performance in Saturday's 2-2 draw at
Montenegro as "awful" and "outrageous" as their World Cup hopes were left in
the balance.

  The Dutch would have qualified for the finals in Qatar next year with a win
in Podgorica and they were well set after a Memphis Depay double gave them a
2-0 lead.

  However, Ilija Vukotic marked his international debut with a goal in the
82nd minute to give the home side hope and four minutes later Nikola Vujnovic
looped in a header to grab the draw.

  "The way we played in the second half was just outrageous," Liverpool star
Van Dijk told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

  "We always want to have the ball, we all want to play football, attack and
score. But football is also knowing how to defend.

  "That's what we haven't done tonight. Our organisation was just awful. We
should have qualified here."

  The Dutch still head Group G but are just two points ahead of Turkey, who
put six past Gibraltar.

  They host Norway in Rotterdam on Tuesday in the final round of matches
while Turkey travel to Montenegro.

  "With all due respect to Montenegro, we should have won, certainly after
taking a two-goal lead," added Van Dijk.

  "Now we will play against Norway on Tuesday in an empty stadium (due to
Covid-19 restrictions). We must be much better than tonight." BSS/AFP