Liverpool fans loved the gesture
Gini Wijnaldum paid tribute to his teammate Virgil Van Dijk after scoring a quick fire brace for Holland on Sunday night.
The Liverpool midfielder bagged two early goals to put Holland 2-0 up within 13 minutes of their game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which they went on to win 3-1, putting them second in the Group 1 standings in the UEFA Nations Legaue.
He celebrated his goals by putting his right hand below his chin and wiggling his fingers, a clear nod to Virgil Van Dijk, who uses that exact goal celebration.
Wijnaldum later tweeted about the gesture, saying: “My celebration until my Captain is back,” tagging his international and club teammate in the tweet.
My celebration until my Captain is back ❤️ @VirgilvDijk pic.twitter.com/T0BzlbaUj8
— Gini Wijnaldum (@GWijnaldum) November 16, 2020
Van Dijk is in the early stages of recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained during October’s Merseyside derby against Everton, and is expected to be ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Liverpool fans thoroughly approved of the gesture. One Twitter user replied “Yes Gini” with a love heart emoji.
Another responded “This bromance” accompanied by an orange love heart.
Wijnaldum and Van Dijk enjoy a close friendship both at Liverpool and on international duty. Speaking to JOE last year, Wijnaldum said Van Dijk is “a really funny person.”
“I’ve worked with him with the national team, so I already knew what kind of player he is.
“I knew that when he came, he could transform the back line, but also the line in front of him.
“The way he puts everyone in position helps the whole team, so he’s a leader in that way.”
"Oh yeah. This is easy."
Can Liverpool goalscorer Gini Wijnaldum recognise these mashed up famous footballer faces? pic.twitter.com/drAnRRl10F
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) March 11, 2020
Liverpool will sorely miss Van Dijk this season, and look set to be without his starting partner Joe Gomez for a substantial amount of time as well, after the England defender suffered a knee injury in training while on international duty.
