Virgil Van Dijk spots himself on the big screen, immediately starts egging his teammates on during the Community Shield match between Manchester City and Liverpool.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described the Community Shield as a glorified friendly that did nothing for the winner. In a lot of ways, what he said is true. The season opener is essence an extension of the pre-season.
Also read: Harry Maguire’s shirt number revealed
The winners are often forgotten. The losers on the other hand become victims of ridicule. However, so much happened in the match, at one point it felt like the Premier League was at stake.
Glorious Rivalry
Manchester City lost Leroy Sane to an injury in the 10th minute. Raheem Sterling then gave City the lead a couple of minutes later. A rash challenge by Joe Gomez on City captain David Silva saw Pep Guardiola fuming at the touchline. The Man City boss vented at fourth official Stuart Atwell before Referee Martin Atkinson made his way to the touchline and brandished a yellow card at him. Thus Pep Guardiola became the first manager to ever receive a yellow card.
Liverpool equalised through a Joel Matip header and Virgil Van Dijk got dribbled past by Gabriel Jesus. Just when you thought you’d seen your money’s worth, Kyle Walker denied Mohammed Salah a goal through some acrobatic display of committed defending. So much for a glorified friendly. Short of laying their lives down, the 22 men on the field did everything they could to win.
Show for the camera?
Between all these heroic and memorable moments, there was one that caught the attention of fans for the wrong reason. Liverpool’s last season’s hero, Virgil Van Dijk, was spotted watching himself on the big screen before he began motivating his teammates.
https://twitter.com/FootbaII_HQ/status/1158044356399509504
He’s doing it for the camera. He sees himself on the tv and realised he’s getting filmed so he decides to act like a captain and pretend to motivate when really he’s doing it for the camera
— REGISTA 5 (@Jorgxnh0) August 5, 2019
Fans suggested that Van Dijk was playing up to the cameras and called him out for it. It is possible, that this was just a pretence. Or perhaps the centre back was just caught admiring himself on the screen and meant to egg his teammates all along.
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