Liverpool FC defender Virgil van Dijk joins GQ Sports in Actually Me, as he goes online to answer the internet’s questions. VVD responds to questions from X, Quora & Reddit, as well as fact-checking Wikipedia and replying to Instagram, YouTube & TikTok comments.How many Premier League titles has Virgil van Dijk won with Liverpool? Is VVD one of the greatest Premier League defenders of all time? Is the Dutch defender aura farming? Watch the full episode as Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk goes undercover and answers all of these questions and more.----------Director: Liam Woolmer-ThompsonDirector of Photography: Rick BaileyEditor: J.Y. ChunTalent: Virgil van DijkProducer: Liam Woolmer-ThompsonSenior Producer: Lizzy HalberstadtLine Producer: Jen SantosProduction Manager: Alexandra Dawson HerrenProduction Coordinator: Ericka Gourgues-LutranTalent Booker: Poppy EvansCamera Operator: Chris ElliottAssistant Camera: James HarperSound Mixer: Ed EatonProduction Assistant: Cameron JonesPost Production Supervisor: Jess DunnPost Production Coordinator: Stella ShortinoSupervising Editor: Rob LombardiAssistant Editor: Fynn Lithgow
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00What's up GQ?
00:01It's Virgil van Dijk.
00:02I'm going undercover on the internet today.
00:04It's actually me.
00:07X.
00:10Who is the hardest player you have come up against?
00:13Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo,
00:15both very, very, very good players,
00:18very difficult to defend.
00:19It's always good to be playing against the best players
00:22in my opinion, because you can always challenge yourself.
00:24You always have to be at your best
00:26and it's a beautiful thing.
00:28Posted.
00:29Who were your idols growing up?
00:31There was one big idol for me, Ronaldinho.
00:35I looked a lot at football, also other defenders,
00:38and the joy that I got at the time
00:40was definitely looking at Ronaldinho
00:42and his tricks was incredible.
00:44Back to X.
00:46Wonder what VVD thinks of the World Cup
00:49being in North America next year.
00:51This tournament is going to be an amazing tournament.
00:53I really would love to be part of the World Cup
00:55and yeah, we have to fight,
00:57but hopefully we can reach it
00:59and be successful there.
01:00Replied.
01:01Instagram.
01:04Kika Colonia.
01:06I wonder if Bro knows he's Aura Farming.
01:10Well, Kika Colonia, I have no clue
01:13what Aura Farming means.
01:15It's actually a nice picture.
01:16I think the jacket looks all right.
01:17So maybe that's the Aura Farming.
01:19Replied.
01:20I-H-A-L-B.
01:23I-H-A-L-B.
01:24How many Premier Leagues have you won?
01:26Now, I-H-A-L-B.
01:27I'm not sure if this is a sarcastic comment
01:30or an actual question.
01:32I can say I won one.
01:33Lost two.
01:37But it's very difficult and I keep going.
01:39I want to win more Premier Leagues.
01:41I want to enjoy all of that again and again and again.
01:44It's an amazing feeling to win.
01:46How do you pronounce this?
01:47Quora.
01:48What is Quora then?
01:50Why do some consider Van Dijk to be one of the greatest
01:52Premier League defenders of all time?
01:55I don't think that should be a question for me to answer.
01:58What I am proud of, and it is a blessing,
02:01is that people are having me in these conversations.
02:04Everyone has different tastes, also different style of playing.
02:07You have different eras, different difficulties
02:10that everyone has had to deal with.
02:11So you can't really compare.
02:13What you can do is appreciate what you see
02:15and don't put people down in order to put others up,
02:19if you know what I mean.
02:20Post it.
02:21So what do you know about Virgil van Dijk?
02:23Well, there's loads of things that you don't know
02:26and I prefer to keep it that way.
02:28I think now it's just focus on being successful
02:31with Liverpool, constantly.
02:33Next.
02:35What is Virgil van Dijk's height?
02:36Well, that's very simple.
02:37I can tell you, that's 6'4", 195 in centimeters.
02:41There's no question about it.
02:43Can Virgil van Dijk stop Messi?
02:45Maybe now, when he's in Inter Miami,
02:48but he's still so good in my opinion,
02:49his dribbling and stuff.
02:51I think he's 2-1 up, so I couldn't probably stop him.
02:54So yeah, what a player.
02:57Reddit.
03:00How many years do you think Virgil van Dijk has left
03:02at the very top level of football?
03:04Very good question.
03:05Well, I can promise that I'm committed to making sure
03:09that there will be plenty more years on the highest level yet.
03:12I feel good and we have to keep going.
03:14So let's see.
03:15Replied.
03:16EA Sports, EA FC game.
03:20This game would be infinitely more fun without Virgil van Dijk.
03:24This guy hounds me every game with the F-teleport from the back and side
03:29at the same time, reach around block tackle when he was 50 meters behind my striker.
03:34Yeah, well, it sounded like you had a very frustrated game there.
03:40Obviously, I've played also EA FC and I've also played against other teams
03:45when they had myself in the back and I can understand what you mean.
03:48And it's frustrating anyway to lose games,
03:50but to have Virgil van Dijk in the back at the opponents.
03:54Sorry, my apologies, but try and get me as well then your team.
03:58Then you can be on the other side of it.
04:00Next.
04:04Everyone has a photo of their younger days that are really cringe to look at.
04:07Van Dijk has this.
04:09What are those Mario looking shoes?
04:11Well, why would you cringe at this picture is my question first and foremost.
04:14This was a really, really good.
04:15Nah, I don't know what I was thinking at the time.
04:18Obviously, I'm Dutch.
04:20The shoes, the clogs, how they call them, they represent Holland, of course.
04:23The trousers could still be rock nowadays, by the way.
04:26I'm not going to lie.
04:27It's part of your development, who you are.
04:29It is what it is.
04:31I'm proud of this picture still as well, by the way.
04:33So, anyone has something to say about this.
04:36Mario looking shoes, I don't give a.
04:41Post it.
04:41VVD without a bun.
04:43He's always reminded me of the quite cool art student at school that never had a problem
04:48with anyone and played guitar.
04:49That's absolutely not true.
04:51I always had problems with others because I was a winner and I played a lot of football at school.
04:55So when my team, when I was playing, would lose, I had problems with everyone.
04:59So yeah, the VVD without a bun.
05:01That's always the case when I'm home.
05:02But when I'm out and about, you'll always see me in a bun.
05:06Next.
05:07VVD is our February play of the month.
05:10Has anyone else never noticed his tattoos though?
05:13Yeah, obviously, I always play with long sleeve underneath my shirt.
05:16Every tattoo has a story.
05:18Part of your development, where you are in a certain point of life.
05:21I think the most important tattoos I have on my arm are the names of my family.
05:27I've actually got number four as well and I've got Peter Pan as well.
05:30A very small one because you will never want to grow up.
05:32That's a good thing you didn't know, by the way.
05:34So now you know.
05:38It's very different, like the best centre-back in Premier League history.
05:41So obviously everyone has different tastes in what they like in a centre-back.
05:46But everyone can have their opinion as they should have.
05:52Ooh.
05:54Baby oil, obviously, smells nice as well.
05:56And making sure my hair looks nice.
05:59We need a hair routine ASAP.
06:01Now, sorry guys, I can't give you the secret behind it.
06:05Sometimes you just have to keep things for yourself.
06:07And this is one of them.
06:09Replied.
06:16What is this?
06:17I think it's passion.
06:18Anyone else?
06:19Obviously, it was before the Champions League final.
06:21But to have everyone with the flares, smoke, singing my song was…
06:25And it's still something that I really, really am so happy and proud of.
06:30And that's why Liverpool, in my eyes, is the most beautiful club in the world.
06:33Have you ever sung it?
06:35Yes, of course, I've ever sung it.
06:38Posted.
06:39Oh, the grid walk in Monaco.
06:42Football is his career.
06:43But what draws him to Formula One?
06:46I like Formula One.
06:47I know Max quite well.
06:48Obviously, the conversations I've had with Max as well.
06:51Sometimes the things you hear is just incredible.
06:53And we can learn, I think, in general a lot from each other.
06:56No, no, I'm far too big for a Formula One car.
06:59I would love to though.
07:01Wikipedia.
07:02Having previously and unsuccessfully featured as a right-back,
07:09Van Eyck was shifted into a central defence position in 2008, age 17.
07:13After he grew in height by around 18 centimetres.
07:17Well, this is a lot of information.
07:19I think a lot of things in it are not correct.
07:24So to put the record straight, I was always a centre-back.
07:27In the beginning stages, obviously, you play around multiple positions as a defender.
07:33But after I got my growth spurt, that wasn't 18 centimetres, by the way,
07:37I started to play regularly in the team, became the captain.
07:41And actually, it only went up.
07:43I went all the way north to Groningen.
07:45There is when I made my debut and had a fantastic time.
07:49And the rest is history.
07:51Next.
07:52He had also named Ronaldinho as his favourite player of all time,
07:56who in turn called Van Eyck the best defender of his generation.
07:59Was that on Wikipedia?
08:00Well, Wikipedia got it correct.
08:03Ronaldinho was definitely my favourite player of all time, my idol.
08:07That's an amazing compliment.
08:08If he said it, I would have loved to have said it.
08:10So hopefully it's true.
08:12Next.
08:13In a 2019 interview with Marca, when Lionel Messi was asked why Van Eyck was so difficult
08:18to beat, the Argentine responded.
08:20He's a defender who knows how to judge his timing and wait for the right moment to challenge
08:25or jockey the attacker.
08:26He's very fast and big, but he has a lot of agility for his height.
08:30Great to hear from one of the best ever.
08:33We played against each other quite a while, especially him and Cristiano Ronaldo.
08:37This era, decade, you know, it's what they have achieved and what they do for the game.
08:43It's impressive and I only got respect.
08:46Tick tock.
08:48Tick tock.
08:50Virgil van Buckets.
08:53I wonder if he would be the best NBA player in the Premier League.
08:56I would love to give it a shot with other players that think they can play.
09:00Not in the actual NBA, by the way, but Premier League players, NBA team.
09:04Posted.
09:08I mean, what's his skincare routine generally?
09:11I used baby oil since I was a baby and I kept doing it in terms of waking up after shower,
09:17baby oil goes on my face.
09:21Is Virgil the first Dutch player to captain a team that wins the league title?
09:25That will always be a big dream, something I would love to be.
09:29Replied.
09:33Van Dijk making defending look easy like it's FIFA on beginner mode.
09:37This particular moment was obviously against Cristiano Ronaldo.
09:40The facts in this video is he won this Champions League final, so he had the last laugh.
09:46Okay, that's it for me.
09:48Thanks for all the questions.
09:49Hopefully you got all the answers that you were looking for.
09:51And I'm going to sign up the internet right now.
09:53See you.