After the Netherlands' 2-0 win over Finland, which got their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign underway, the 8-0 win over Malta was their biggest since beating San Marino 11-0 in 2011.
Captain Virgil van Dijk rightly reflected proudly on a spectacular night in Groningen, but was happy it was his last game of the season. "A beautiful evening with many goals," Van Dijk told NOS. "We kept a clean sheet again, and now it's time for a break.
"The most important thing was that we would secure six points with the national team this week, but now it's time for some rest. It has been a long season."
After a period of struggle under the returned Koeman, Oranje are showing promise with a deep and qualitatively strong group. Van Dijk sees the group grow and is excited about the future.
"Let's hope something beautiful is growing. But you have to show it every game. Now the task is to show it again in September. That's what we're aiming for," said Van Dijk, who scored the 3-0 in the stadium of his old club FC Groningen.
"I think we've had a good group for a long time. I could see that off the pitch, but on the pitch, it takes games to rebuild that kind of thing together. We need to be able to make it difficult for every opponent. It's still a long way to the World Cup, but this is a good start."
Record-breaking Memphis
In addition to the 8-0 win, the home crowd saw history being written as Memphis Depay tied Robin van Persie's record of 50 goals for the Netherlands. Van Dijk was proud of his teammate, with whom he played 39 caps—more than any other Netherlands player.
"Memphis plays a huge role in this team. He's now on a par with Robin van Persie. That's fantastic. I can see all the hard work he puts in. He's a very important link for us. I'm just proud of him, but now we have to keep going."