Virgil van Dijk got on the scoresheet for the Netherlands as Jeremie Frimpong was rested and Ronald Koeman’s side won 8-0 against James Carragher’s Malta.
It was a generally successful night for the Reds on international duty, particularly for the Dutch contingent of Liverpool’s squad.
Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and Van Dijk all started for the Netherlands in an 8-0 demolition of Malta that was expected but impressive nonetheless.
The Dutch made light work of Malta, who are ranked 169th in the world by FIFA, just below Bermuda and above South Sudan.
Notably, the minnows had Jamie Carragher’s son, James Carragher, playing at centre-back.
The 22-year-old has been playing well at Wigan and was called up to the Malta side, having qualified for citizenship through his grandmother.
While it will have been a great experience to play in Groningen against some of the world’s best, Carragher’s chances of coming out with any on-field credit were slim.
The class difference was evident from the start, with Memphis Depay scoring twice before Van Dijk netted the third after 20 minutes.
Koeman’s captain strode forward and played a one-two with Frenkie de Jong, before taking a good first touch which allowed him to shoot cleanly, from the edge of the box, to the goalkeeper’s bottom right.
It was an aesthetically pleasing strike from Van Dijk that we thought we might have seen more of at Liverpool.
New signing Frimpong was given the night off by Koeman as an unused substitute, while Gakpo and Gravenberch were withdrawn at half time.
On a side note, Depay’s two goals in the match took him level with Robin van Persie on 50 goals as the country’s all-time top scorer.
The result leaves the Netherlands on six points after two Group G games of World Cup qualifying.
Of the group’s five nations, also including Poland, Finland and Lithuania, top spot qualifies for next summer’s tournament automatically, while second place advances to the play-offs.
Currently, the Netherlands have six points from their first two matches and sit second, one point behind Finland who have played twice more.
The other contender to get through, Poland, have also won their first two fixtures and will meet the Netherlands in September.
