European champions Spain beat the Netherlands 5-4 on penalties after a spectacular 120 minutes resulted in a 3-3 draw in Valencia. The Netherlands scored two penalties, one in both regular and extra time, but eventually couldn't best 'La Roja' after PSV's Noa Lang and Aston Villa's Donyell Malen missed their spot kicks during the penalty shootout.
"Losing just hurts," Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk told Dutch television after the loss. "It was a great football fight, but we are out. That's disappointing. We could've made it, but unfortunately, Spain progressed."
The Netherlands and Spain drew 2-2 in Rotterdam last Thursday after Mikel Merino scored an injury-time equaliser. "We showed a good version of ourselves in Rotterdam. We tried to pull that through, and we did that at times."
The Netherlands will meet Poland, Finland, Lithuania, and Malta in the World Cup qualifiers. An away game in Finland on June 7th will kick off their qualifying campaign.
"It is important to take that into World Cup qualification. The difficult thing in football is to consistently reach a level and show it every time," Van Dijk continued.
"We are now going to do everything we can to make it to the World Cup."
Penalty kick
The captain took matters into his own hands at the start of the penalty shootout - Van Dijk took the Netherlands' first penalty and confidently blasted it past Unai Simon.
"No doubt I would take the first one again now," Van Dijk proclaimed.