ROTTERDAM -- Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk insists his team deserve to qualify for the 2022 World Cup Qatar despite having to go through the last two tense group stage matches. The Netherlands finally made sure to qualify for Qatar after a 2-0 win over Norway in the last match of Group G in Rotterdam, Wednesday (17/11) early morning hrs.

The Netherlands, who missed the 2018 World Cup, topped Group G. Prior to that, the Oranje were worried because in their ninth match they drew 2-2 with Montenegro. Thus, the Netherlands had to win against Norway to qualify for the World Cup, although a draw was actually sufficient.

The match against Norway was tense. The reason is, Van Dijk and his friends just broke the deadlock six minutes before normal time ended through Steve Bergwijn. Memphis Depay then made sure the Netherlands were not overtaken by his goal when the game entered injury time.

"It's worth it. I don't think we let go of anything, nothing at all," Van Dijk said, quoted by Reuters on Wednesday.

The Liverpool defender said, after against Montenegro, the Oranje players were asked to respond to the result optimally and his team-mates did well. Although Van Dijk admits there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Van Dijk felt the tension in the match. Especially without the presence of spectators due to restrictions related to the increasing number of Covid-19 spreads in the Netherlands.

"It's a game you want to play, there's a lot of pressure. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm really looking forward to it."

Van Dijk added that everyone did not want the Netherlands to have to determine qualification for the World Cup until the last match. But it's a fact that must be accepted. He thinks the Netherlands is playing with character. Van Dijk emphasized that it was not easy to get up after a draw against Montenegro.

Van Dijk missed Euro 2020 due to a serious knee injury suffered since the start of last season with Liverpool. Therefore, he is excited to undergo the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

"I can't wait to lead this group and create something beautiful. The road to the World Cup is still long, but we deserved to qualify," he stressed.