Van Dijk ready to lead resurgent Dutch at World Cup

DOHA: As the Netherlands return to the World Cup after missing out in 2018 they will be led by Virgil van Dijk, who has grown into one of the game's best defenders.

Runners-up in 1974, 1978 and 2010, the Netherlands came within a penalty shootout of reaching a fourth World Cup final in 2014 when Louis van Gaal's squad defied expectations to make the semi-finals.

The straight-talking Van Gaal is back for a third stint in charge of the national team, courageously coming out of retirement while receiving treatment for aggressive prostate cancer.

The 71-year-old underwent 25 bouts of radiotherapy, including during training camps with the national team, and watched from a wheelchair following a bike accident as the Dutch qualified for Qatar last November.

Van Gaal, christened the 'Iron Tulip' in his homeland for his authoritarian style, overlooked a young Van Dijk for the 2014 finals, but the Liverpool centre-back has since developed into the steel backbone around which the team is built.

Van Dijk also missed out on Euro 2020 last year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.

So remarkably, through a combination of circumstance and misfortune, only now is the 31-year-old set to appear at his first major international tournament.

"We have to believe in our qualities and ourselves and be confident," Van Dijk said.

"We have a fantastic manager, an experienced manager. We have players who play at the highest level, the biggest clubs in the world."

Van Dijk's emergence coincided with a transitional period for the Dutch, who failed to qualify for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.

The Oranje suffered a disappointing last-16 exit at Euro 2020 without the injured Van Dijk, but they are unbeaten in 15 games since the reappointment of Van