Virgil van Dijk is completely unnecessary; the captain plays like he speaks.

The Netherlands national team has not started strongly at the 2026 World Cup in North America. In their first group match, Oranje seemed for a long time to be on track for a 2-1 victory, but in the 88th minute Japan managed to make it 2-2, and in a sense the Netherlands has a false start to the World Cup in North America, with PSV player Guus Til staying on the bench for the entire match.

The first half from both sides was anything but high-quality. Former PSV striker Donyell Malen got the first big chance of the match, but saw his effort turned aside by goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.

Right before halftime, Ayase Ueda, taking advantage of a big chance, had the striker turn away quite easily from the captain Virgil van Dijk, and the ball ultimately flew high into the net. In the NOS studio, analyst Rafael van der Vaart pointed a critical finger at Van Dijk.

Van der Vaart made a comparison with a Boeing 747. ''I have to be honest, I was a bit shocked by Van Dijk. The turning… He was a bit like a Boeing 747. I hope that during the tournament he will start turning a bit faster,'' said the former international about it during the halftime break on NOS.

And speaking of Van Dijk: despite the fact that Oranje went 1-0 through the defender, the much-praised defender let slip a few mistakes here and there. Even after the match, Van Dijk, who is still no shadow of the defender who, for example, Jaap Stam once was for Oranje, came along with open doors for the camera team of NOS.

''You know it can still become dangerous with restarts and counters. Unfortunately that happens then. It’s frustrating that that goal comes from a restart, because I think we closed it off very well for that'', Van Dijk said afterwards about the late equalizer, where the captain jumped under the ball and saw that NEC striker Koki Ogawa ultimately headed the ball behind goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen via Daichi Kamada.

Also the 1-1 came pretty easily, with Keito Nakamura allowed to finish freely and the ball shot through Jan Paul van Hecke against the ropes. "In my opinion, it was preventable. He's very clearly right-footed, and then you have to force him to the outside," said the captain, who in fact no longer has any added value for this Oranje. He's still a figurehead, a point of reference as well, but beyond that, Van Dijk has no value for this Oranje anymore. The captain sometimes plays rather sluggishly, as he effectively also communicates and stands in front of the camera. It's high time for a new figurehead, both in words and in gesture.