Virgil van Dijk: “Proud” to Captain His First Liverpool Final
The new Liverpool captain will have the armband for Sunday’s final
Dutch captain Virgil Van Dijk will wear the armband for his first Liverpool final on Sunday, with Liverpool taking on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final. The Liverpool skipper spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about his pride in leading his club side on the occasion:
“[I feel] Very proud, very proud. Of course it was, I won’t say a relief, but [I had] the feeling of being proud when we obviously got the job done at Fulham and it will be a very proud day, a special day. Hopefully we can make it the best possible outcome by winning the cup and taking it back to Liverpool.
“I very much look forward to it. I very much look forward to seeing all our fans there of course, and hopefully getting our first silverware of the season.
“Obviously in this competition a lot of youngsters have contributed to where we are at the moment so everyone can feel proud and connected to where we are at the moment – and I think that’s why it’s good that we are there.”
Van Dijk has obviously played in finals — three at Wembley! — before for Liverpool, and he’s keen to never take them for granted:
“It’s a special feeling. Playing finals for this football club is something out of this world and obviously you don’t want to lose finals first and foremost, but it is always a special thing and it is the first chance for silverware.
“Hopefully, if it happens, it will give us a massive boost for the last part of the season. It’s amazing and we all should enjoy the occasion, but definitely be out there and show the quality that we have.”
Looking beyond himself, the Liverpool captain also noted how pleased he is to see so many new faces in a final for the Reds:
“Over the last couple of years players have left, that’s how football works at times, and new players have come in and it’s not a given that you settle that quickly and gel that quickly and make sure that results are going your way.
“And it has been, of course, so it will be a very good day in my opinion and I have been there for the Carabao Cup final. We won it and it is a very good day out, and hopefully we can make it a special one together with our fans by lifting the trophy.”
Van Dijk also answered the big question: How Jürgen Klopp’s departure affects the players in these kinds of moments:
“Yeah, I think everyone reacts obviously differently towards the news, like we all said over the last couple of weeks, all the players have given their reaction.
“But we want to focus on the task ahead of us and obviously the final is waiting for us, and that is what we are looking forward to all together: together with the players, together with the staff, together with the manager, and we want to make that a special day and get our first trophy of the season.
“That’s how we focus on the situation and the end of the season will be probably very emotional for a lot of people, including the manager, but we are not there yet. We shouldn’t look too far ahead, we should look at what is in front of us and that’s what we want to do.”
“The thing is, and I think how we always have been in our success and in our focus, is that we focus on ourselves. Obviously [Chelsea] have their goals but I want to look at our goals, I want to achieve our goals that we have and we want to go out there and win the final.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game because Chelsea is a very good team with very good individual players that can make a difference.
“So, we have to be very good but I am definitely looking forward to the final and hopefully we can make it a proud Liverpool day and get our first trophy.”
Liverpool of course also faced Chelsea in their two final wins in the 2021/22 season, winning both on penalties.
This Sunday’s match kicks off at 3:00PM GMT/10:00 AM EST.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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