Virgil van Dijk will have many days when he is the man of the match but on Sunday night in Liverpool's pre season game against Borussia Dortmund even he'd admit he didn't deserve it ahead of Christian Pulisic.
After the World Cup it felt like we'd have to wait ages for some good old football but fortunately the International Champions Cup has already come along to save us from the boredom before the domestic season starts again.
The 'competition,' or group of random high profile friendlies, pit some of the best sides in Europe against each other and on Sunday night it gave us Borussia Dortmund vs Liverpool in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
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Whilst it was a good chance for the commentators to remind us for 90 minutes that Jurgen Klopp once managed the Bundesliga side and they've not been the same since he left it was also a good chance for some to impress.
Liverpool led 1-0 in the 25th minute thanks to Dortmund deciding not to bother marking the 6"3 centre back at a corner, as he sauntered into free space and casually nodded the ball home.
Just as it looked like the Premier League side were on their way to a win Christian Pulisic scored from the spot on 66 minutes, scored again on 89 minutes and set one up on 93 minutes as Dortmund won 3-1 but Van Dijk, and not Pulisic, ended up with the man of the match award.
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That's because, as per the Liverpool Echo, Pulisic is just 19 and the MOTM award at the pre season tournament is sponsored by Heineken and includes a bottle of beer and that means in America he's illegal to drink.
That meant the award essentially went to second just Van Dijk. The Dutch defender wasn't really at fault for any of the goals and scored Liverpool's only goal of the game so was a good second choice.
It was certainly a shame for Pulisic though as his second half performance was more deserving than anyone to be recognised as he ran the Liverpool defence, and Loris Karius, ragged.
Perhaps the biggest story from the game was Karius once again making a big mistake. In the first half the keeper had the ball outside his area and passed the ball straight to a Dortmund player, but the Bundesliga side couldn't capitalise.
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The third goal was his fault as he came for Pulisic's ball across the box but could only palm it straight to Jacob Bruun Larsen to poke home from a yard out.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:Β Liverpool, Football News, Premier League, Borussia Dortmund, Virgil Van Dijk, Christian Pulisic, Bundesliga
