Virgil van Dijk appeared to snub Netherlands teammate Joshua Zirkzee in the tunnel despite high-fiving several other of his teammates.
Van Dijk captained the Dutch to a 5-2 victory over Bosnia on Saturday as they started their Nations League campaign brightly.
But it was a pre-match moment that has now generated intrigue, with footage showing Van Dijk completely ignoring his teammate Zirkzee.
The clip shows Van Dijk giving pre-match hugs to teammates including goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and defender Nathan Ake.
Yet Zirkzee, who was stood behind Ake in the tunnel, stared ahead while Van Dijk made his way to hug Jerdy Schouten, who was stood behind him.
Van Dijk then dished out some high-fives to the mascots.
Some will suggest to Van Dijk and Zirkzee’s respective club allegiances as the major reason why the pair didn’t acknowledge each other before the game.
Van Dijk has called Liverpool his home for the past six-and-a-half seasons, while Zirkzee moved to rivals Manchester United in the summer.
The two sides have already played one another this season, with Liverpool romping to a 3-0 victory over the Red Devils at Old Trafford to heap even more misery on embattled United boss Erik ten Hag.
Zirkzee and Van Dijk both started the match, but the former was kept quiet in his first start for United and was substituted for Christian Eriksen in the 86th minute.
Although Van Dijk’s pre-match handshake snub of Zirkzee may have suggested there was tension between the pair, it didn’t take long before it was dispelled.
Zirkzee opened the scoring for the Dutch against Bosnia in the 13th minute when he flicked home a header after Xavi Simons’ effort took a wicked deflection and bounced up kindly.
Van Dijk went over to celebrate with Zirkzee and gave him a hug, proving the two are evidently on good terms despite their rivalry at club level.
Despite Zirkzee’s early goal, the Netherlands’ lead lasted just 14 minutes as Ermedin Demirovic scored an equaliser for the visitors.
2
Ronald Koeman‘s side went back in front during first half stoppage time via Tijjani Reijnders as Cody Gakpo added a third in the 56th minute.
Former Manchester City star Edin Dzeko pulled one back for Bosnia in the 73rd minute after a mistake by Man United centre-back Matthijs de Ligt.
But late goals from Wout Weghorst and Simons ensured there would be no upset for the 75th world-ranked team.
JOIN THE DUGOUT
Have your say on all things talkSPORT by joining ‘The DUGOUT’ – our new listener panel.
We’re all about diving deep into your perspectives, and making sure talkSPORT is the absolute best it can be. Your voice matters, and we want to hear it!
Pitch your game-changing ideas, and join in with fun surveys, polls, and locker-room discussions.
Just by joining, you’ll enter a prize draw to win one of four £50 Amazon vouchers, with another prize draw entry for every survey you complete after that
To join the ‘The DUGOUT’ panel, please click here.
