Reds defender downplays the incident, saying he only wanted to gear his Oranje team-mate up ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifiers
LIVERPOOL ace Virgil Van Dijk has joked his blunder against Fulham was meant to be a confidence boost for his Holland team-mate Ryan Babel.
The Cottagers forward capitalised on the Reds defender's miscommunication with Alisson and scored a goal - but it turns out the Oranje coach Ronald Koeman was relieved to see Van Dijk make a mistake.
Van Dijk, 27, has barely put a foot wrong since his move to Anfield on January 1 last year, but the Sunday blunder could have proved to be a costly one.
Former Reds player Babel, 32, seized on the opportunity and equalised for the Premier League struggles with just 15 minutes from time after Van Dijk's weak header left Alisson exposed on the edge of the penalty box.
Jurgen Klopp's men were about to suffer yet another blow in their title race, but James Milner salvaged a victory for the Reds, converting a penalty six minutes after.
And relieved Van Dijk downplayed the incident as he reported on international duty with the Netherlands and joked he gifted his Oranje team-mate a goal as he wanted to gear Babel up ahead of the Euro 2020.
He told : "I thought 'let me also give Ryan some confidence for the international matches against Belarus and Germany'.
"Especially because, of course, we won that match.
"We talked about it briefly on the plane and Ryan had posted something on social media, but now all of us are focusing on Orange again."
He immediately confronted me with that mistake
Virgil van Dijk reveals Holland boss Koeman's reaction
Van Dijk also revealed the Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman was quick to point out the blunder when he joined the Holland squad.
He added: "He immediately confronted me with that mistake."
But Koeman revealed he actually sighed with relief as, courtesy of the mistake, the hype surrounding Van Dijk can finally let up and he will now be more focused on the Netherlands' games.
The former Southampton and Everton coach said: "I told Virgil that he is ultimately also a human being.
"If you had to believe the media in England, we were dealing with an alien defender.
"But luckily for us, Virgil made a mistake for Liverpool and hopefully he plays [with a] clear [mind] for us against Belarus and Germany."
Liverpool are now two points ahead of Manchester City in the Premier League table, although have one game in hand.
