Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk says his side's 3-2 Euro 2020 qualifying defeat to Germany on Sunday proves that his side still have some way to go before they can truly claim to be back among the elite.
The Dutch - who will play in the Nations League finals in the summer - fell 2-0 down in the first half courtesy of strikes from Germany's Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry.
However, the Amsterdam crowd were on their feet as the hosts staged a fightback to level at 2-2 just after the hour mark thanks to goals from Matthijs De Ligt and Memphis Depay.
But Germany midfielder Nico Schulz had the final say when he fired home the winner in the 90th minute.
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And skipper Van Dijk was left devastated.
“We knew we have a long way to go and tonight proved that," the Liverpool defender told NOS , via Goal.com .
“We came back so well and then you should grab a point at least. Too bad it didn't work out that way. We had difficulties in the first half.
“They had a lot of movement and we weren't organised well. We improved a lot in the second half when Frenkie de Jong played more from midfield.”
Van Dijk's defensive partner De Ligt echoed those comments.
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“The first half wasn't good,” said the goalscorer.
"We didn't put on the pressure and they had a lot of space. Germany has very skilful players. Maybe we were somehow scared to attack Germany.
“In the second half we showed we're a good team, but that was too late. It's the Dutch mentality to try to score a third goal. You could keep pressing or defend and we did the first thing, but you should remain focused and we lacked in the end.”
