Virgil van Dijk believes his Netherlands side had considerable room for improvement despite opening their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Senegal.
The Liverpool star was making his major tournament debut on the occasion of his 50th cap for his country and helped them seize the initiative in Group A. Cody Gakpo broke the deadlock with a header six minutes from time before Davy Klaasen added a second in stoppage time.
The Netherlands are now level on three points with an Ecuador side who beat hosts Qatar 2-0 in the tournament's opening game on Sunday. Next up for Louis van Gaal's side is Ecuador on Sunday.
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"We won but we also know that we can and must do better," Van Dijk told Dutch broadcaster NOS after the game.
"Going forward we sometimes tried to force things, and we too often left ourselves exposed to Senegal's counter-attacks.
"That is an area in which we will need to improve because it is an art that our next opponents, Ecuador, are very good at.
"But I am optimistic because I feel we are going to get better."
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