Liverpool legend John Aldridge has heaped praise on Reds centre half Virgil van Dijk for his classy response to a question at the UEFA awards ceremony.
The Dutch international was named UEFA Player of the Year on Friday ahead of superstar attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Sat next to the Argentine, Van Dijk was asked to expand on that memorable night at Anfield where Liverpool destroyed Messi’s Barcelona to reach the Champions League final.
Van Dijk’s respectful response, praising the atmosphere at Anfield, pleased Aldridge: “Couldn’t have put it better myself!,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account. “Very dignified by Virgil.”
Couldn’t have put it better myself!very dignified by Virgil.? https://t.co/dgm8yKnYzy
— John Aldridge (@Realaldo474) August 30, 2019
OPINION
There were many different ways Van Dijk could have responded to the presenter’s question, which was put to him in a way that almost invited him to rub the victory in Messi’s face a little bit. He didn’t do that, though, as ever taking the classy approach and crediting the Anfield atmosphere above all else for the famous win. Perhaps the man sat to the right of him, Ronaldo, may have answered the question in a different, more self-serving, way, but that’s not Van Dijk’s nature. He’s not a once-in-a-generation attacker who can win games on his own like Messi and Ronaldo. By his very nature he is a team player who needs the help of others to be successful. He knows that and he credited it in his answer. Yes, it might have been funny if he’d laid into Barca and Messi a bit, taken the mickey out of them perhaps, but there was never much chance of him doing that. As Aldridge said: very dignified.
