Career: football player, athlete
Date of birth: July 8, 1991
Age: 33 years
Place of birth: Breda, Netherlands
Position: defender
Working leg: right
Height/weight: 195 cm / 92 kg
Marital status: married
Here you will find all the necessary information about this legendary footballer. Virgil van Dijk is one of the greatest defenders in modern football. Playing for clubs such as Southampton and Liverpool, he proved that he is a true leader of the defense and a key player in any team.
On our website you can find out details about his biography, career path and achievements. We are proud to tell you how Virgil van Dijk became one of the best defenders in the world, conquering the heights of the English Premier League and European Cups.
A special section is dedicated to his performances for the Netherlands national team. Virgil van Dijk is the captain of the national team and a key player for the “Orange”. His play and leadership qualities helped the Netherlands national team return to the leading positions in world football.
In addition to news and statistics, our website features a large media library with photos and videos of the best moments of Virgil van Dijk’s game. You will be able to watch your idol’s performances online and discuss them with other fans on the forum. Especially for our visitors, we also publish interviews and exclusive materials in which Virgil van Dijk talks about his career, plans for the future and views on modern football.
Join our community of true Virgil van Dijk fans! Together we can pay tribute to this outstanding footballer and support him on his way to new heights.
Dutch footballer Virgil van Dijk is one of the highest paid defenders in the world. His sports biography is an example of success built on perseverance and hard work, because at the beginning of his career he had no data for professional sports. The player has overcome injuries and even the threat of death and has proven that he is worthy of awards from national and international tournaments.
Virgil van Dijk was born on July 8, 1991, in the small Dutch town of Breda. His father Ron, a professional TV installer and Dutch by nationality, left the family when the future athlete was 12 years old. The player’s mother, Hellen Fo Siu, is from the South American republic of Suriname, a former Dutch colony, and has Chinese roots. She managed to combine work as a military police officer and raise three children – Virgil has a younger brother, Jordan, and a sister, Jennifer.
In one of his interviews, van Dijk recalled the details of his life during that difficult period. The athlete said that after his parents’ divorce, he lived with his father. The man married again, and the teenager did not find a common language with his overly domineering stepmother. Virgil chose to return to his mother and cut off all contact with Ron.
The footballer is the only one in the family who kept his father’s surname (his brother and sister officially changed it in their passports to Fo Siu). However, no matter what team he represented, the defender always put only “Virgil” on his uniform. The Sun newspaper wrote that during a game for Southampton, he invited his father to a match, but he refused. Since then, the athlete has maintained contact only with his mother.
However, despite all the disagreements with his parent, according to Virgil’s school coach Rick Klein, his student became a famous footballer largely thanks to his father’s help. It was Ron van Dijk who regularly took his son to sports training as a child. At the age of 16, the future millionaire worked part-time in a cafe. The young man washed plates in an establishment called Oncle Jean and earned about € 3 per hour. Virgil’s boss Jacques Lips shared his memories of his youth with English reporters in numerous interviews. He noted that he advised the guy to quit sports and work in the establishment, because at that time even van Dijk himself did not believe in the possibility of making money with football.
At first, Van Dijk had a difficult relationship with football. According to his recollections, he was slow and small as a child. The first football club that Virgil joined was Willem II. He tried his hand at right back, but after several unsuccessful matches, the boy was practically kicked out of the team. Soon, his genes made themselves known, the aspiring footballer matured and grew (now he is 193 cm tall and weighs 90 kg), after which he was offered his first professional contract in 2011 with Groningen. The athlete made a successful debut on the field, but the following year he faced serious health problems, which almost ended tragically. Virgil had severe stomach pain, but the club doctors prescribed him treatment with pills only. They did not realize then that the footballer’s illness was much more serious – peritonitis and kidney failure. Due to the negligent treatment of doctors, the young man had to resort to emergency surgery, which left two wide scars on his torso. At that moment, the athlete seriously believed that he could die.
At a certain point, van Dijk decided to make a will in favor of his mother. No one wanted to raise this issue, but if he died at that moment, only part of his money would go to Hellen Fo Siu. Virgil spent 12 days in the hospital, after which it took four months to get back into shape. The footballer’s first appearance on the field after his illness took place only in 2012. But van Dijk did not stay long at Groningen: representatives of other clubs showed interest in him. Among the contenders for signing the sports talent was even the Russian Krasnodar, but Virgil rejected the offer. The player was much more interested in Ajax, but this time he was rejected. In 2013, van Dijk moved to the Scottish club Celtic, signing a four-year contract worth £2.6 million. During his two years with the team, the athlete’s successes were annually recognized by the nomination of the Professional Footballers’ Association of Scotland, but he never received the award. However, Virgil did win two national championships and the Scottish League Cup trophy.
On September 1, 2015, van Dijk became a player of the Premier League club Southampton, the amount of the five-year contract was £13 million. Before that, representatives of other clubs, including Arsenal, had also claimed the purchase of the athlete. Virgil made his debut for the new team in the same month. In 2016, the contract was renewed and became six years. On 22 January the following year, van Dijk took over as captain after the departure of José Fonte, but on the same day he injured his ankle in a match against Leicester City and was unable to participate in the 2017 EFL Cup final. Southampton lost to Manchester United. A successful 2016/2017 season led to interest in Virgil from a number of top clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. Van Dijk had a particular liking for the latter, which did not please the Southampton management. But in the end, the athlete moved to the team on 1 January 2018 for a fee of £75 million and received the number 4. The star’s salary was £220 thousand per week. In his first game for Liverpool in the FA Cup, Van Dijk scored the winning goal against the opponents, but it remained the only one for the entire first season with the club. But the following season, the Dutchman collected a series of Player of the Month awards according to the PFA, Premier League, UEFA, etc. The most important achievement was getting into the shortlist of the Golden Ball – Virgil became second after Lionel Messi. In the same season, his FC won the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in history.
Van Dijk opened the 2020/2021 season with a header against Leeds United, but suffered a knee injury in the same match. The operation was successful, but the athlete did not recover before Euro 2020. He entered the field only nine months later – in July 2021. And the following month, the club signed a new, four-year contract with Virgil, securing the player until 2025. According to statistics, by 2022, the footballer had played more than 200 matches for the team. At the same time, van Dijk and the club won the Carabao Cup. This is what the English Football League Cup is called because of the sponsorship agreement with the energy drink manufacturer Carabao Energy Drink. In 2023, a new page opened in Virgil’s biography – he became the captain of Liverpool. Soon after, the player made another debut, but this time it was not at all happy. For the first time in his career, he received a red card. This happened after a foul. But van Dijk refused to leave the field and even argued with the referee, adding a fine and disqualification for another match to the one he already had.
His debut for the Netherlands national team took place back in 2010. But Virgil could not boast of any big victories at youth and junior tournaments, participating only in friendly matches. He made a name for himself after moving to the adult level.
The coach of the Netherlands national team Guus Hiddink noticed the Celtic player back in 2013. The defender was supposed to go to the national team training camp in early autumn. His wife’s birth was scheduled for the same time. Virgil did not want to miss either the birth of his first child or the training camp, so he organized an early birth for his wife. The woman agreed to this, and the girl was born without complications, but the fans of the national team condemned Van Dijk for his actions, and the coach cancelled his call-up.
Van Dijk had to wait for a second call-up, so his career in the national team began in 2015. In the defender’s debut match – already under Danny Blind – the Netherlands beat the Kazakhstan national team with a score of 2:1. But in the second qualifying match for Euro 2016, Virgil van Dijk was so bad that the coach replaced him in the 64th minute. The national team did not qualify.
Already in 2019, Virgil became the captain of the national team and won silver with it at the 2018/2019 UEFA Nations League, and at the 2020 European Championship, the Dutch footballers were able to reach the 1/8 finals. However, van Dijk himself was not involved in this success – he could not go to the tournament due to injury. In 2022, the footballer was expected to be included in the national team for the 2022 World Cup as captain. Based on the results of the games in Group A, the Netherlands took first place and advanced to the playoffs. But already in the 1/4 finals, van Dijk’s team lost to the Argentines.
Van Dijk inherited his mother’s exotic looks. According to his classmates, he was a heartthrob since his school days. Virgil has a large number of not only fans, but also admirers, and therefore the athlete is in demand in advertising campaigns for sports goods, drinks, and sweets.
The Dutch footballer met his love Rike Nuitgedacht back in his school years. The girl worked as a fashion sales manager, but since 2013 she has devoted herself to her family. The couple is raising two daughters: Nila and Jadi. Despite her young age, the eldest of the defender’s heirs has already managed to appear in advertising campaigns for the world’s leading fashion and sports brands.
The personal life of the lovers was not at all cloudless. A scandal erupted in 2014, when porn star Georgie Lyall made public her intimate correspondence with the footballer. At the time of the betrayal, which Virgil admitted, Rike was pregnant with her first child. The woman forgave her unfaithful partner. In the summer of 2017, Nuitgedacht officially became the footballer’s wife. Van Dijk is quite a popular person on the Internet. Most often, he posts professional photos from the football field or from social events. It is difficult to find pictures in his profile where the player is not shown with neatly combed hair and in uniform, but with loose hair and in casual clothes.
Virgil currently remains Liverpool’s central defender. In 2024, he won his first trophy as the team’s captain – in the Football League Cup final, he scored a goal against Chelsea, which was the only one in the entire match.
The player’s success at the national level contributed to his inclusion in the Netherlands national team’s application for the European Championship in Germany. This Euro was Virgil’s debut, since he missed the last one. The player went to the tournament again with the captain’s armband.
Sharing his expectations for the competition, van Dijk noted that he wants to go as far as possible. Among the opponents, the Dutchman singled out the French national team, emphasizing that there are many strong players there and it will not be easy with them.
The first opponents of the Netherlands national team were the Poles. Following the results of the group stage, van Dijk’s team showed itself well and advanced to the 1/8, where they defeated Romania with a score of 3: 0. In an interview, Virgil van Dijk expressed pride in his compatriots.