ReactionVirgil van Dijk on Klopp's penalties message, Wembley pride and more
Virgil van Dijk revealed Jürgen Klopp was clear that he wanted his Liverpool side to stick together ahead of their Emirates FA Cup penalty shootout win over Chelsea.
Raw footage: Players and fans' reactions in penalty shootout
The Reds played out a tough contest against the Blues at the national stadium on Saturday, eventually lifting a second piece of silverware this season thanks to a decisive spot-kick from Kostas Tsimikas.
An entertaining and end-to-end goalless draw preceded a tense period of extra-time and penalties.
Van Dijk – who was taken off due to an injury before the added half-hour – said the message from the manager was clear ahead of Liverpool's triumph in the resulting shootout.
Asked what words Klopp had for his team with the trophy in the balance, the No.4 said: "Keep going and stay together, there will be moments still to come.
"Keep it tight and just give it your all. You have to show how much you want it, and I think both sides did that, to be fair, but we were on the winning side."
The centre-back was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com after the match amid celebrations. Read on for the rest of the interview…
On winning a second trophy at Wembley this season…
It feels good. Intense, it had it all, I think. They created chances, we created great chances, and in the end it's a lottery, [it] can go either way. Unfortunately, Sadio missed [a penalty], but he had a fantastic game. I said it to him as well, it shouldn't take anything of that away. But to do it after so many games we've played this season and the performance we put in, I think it's a good thing.
On a tough contest with Chelsea…
They are a fantastic side Chelsea, and you have to admit that, we have to admit that. They have quality players all over the pitch, so we have to be ready to suffer and I think we did that. Obviously they created some dangerous moments and we had to defend that. It's something that we expected and if we score one it could be a different game, and the same if they score one as well, that's how football works. But we got the job done and we've got the FA Cup.
Exclusive dressing-room footage after Liverpool win the cup
On James Milner and Kostas Tsimikas playing vital roles...
Everyone is definitely part of this whole campaign. You think of the young boys in the beginning, the players who don't play as much in the league, for him [Tsimikas] to get the winning penalty is just great. He deserves it, he works hard. The only thing for him is that he's got one of the best left-backs in the world in front of him, but that's a good sign of a great team as well. We need each other to push each other, so let's keep that going. We have to enjoy this a little bit, [as] difficult [as] that will be because we have Southampton away on Tuesday. We'll see.
On adding another medal to his Liverpool collection…
It's quite heavy! But it's good, it's a trophy we hadn't won so we are very proud to get this and hopefully there's many more to come, so we'll see.
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