“He took it well to be fair, he thought it was a bit of craic.”
Former Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long has told the story of a prank he played on his ex-Southampton teammate Virgil Van Dijk after they faced each other on international duty.
The Tipperary native made 198 appearances for Southampton from 2014 to 2022, scoring 28 goals during his spell on the south coast. Van Dijk spent almost three years with the Saints before making a €90 million switch to Liverpool in 2018.
During a recent appearance on former Manchester United and England goalkeeper Ben Foster’s podcast, Long opened up about a “bit of craic” he had with the Liverpool captain during their shared time at Southampton.
The 37-year-old told Fozcast listeners: “I played against him for Liverpool, obviously, and Holland as well.
“I always used to try and go on the other centre-back. He had everything. He was obviously strong as an ox, good in the air, but he was rapid so there was no real weak point to his game.
Referencing a pre-Euro 2016 friendly between Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in which the game ended 1-1, Long said: “We did play against him in the Aviva in Dublin and I think he was marking John O’Shea or something from a corner and the ball broke to me and I scored, tapped it in from a yard.
“As I am running away, there is a photo of Virgil on the ground behind me and me running away celebrating.
“I got that framed and put it in his space at Southampton when I came back,” he added.
“He was raging. Just a little joke – ‘you can’t mark me.’ Nobody knew he wasn’t marking me.”
I believe this will be the picture in question: pic.twitter.com/6SyqCscLc3
— JustSaints (@JustSaints_) September 20, 2024
That’s top-tier dressing room banter from the Ireland star.
During the same interview, Long revealed that he wants to protect his son from repeating a ‘Declan Rice situation’ in future if he grows up to be a professional footballer.
He has two kids with wife Kayleah Adams – who hails from Reading – and both of his children were born and raised in the UK.
“It is tough. Playing for your country in Ireland is such a great honour,” Long said.
“When you see players not sure if they want to do it, I think it’s hard for the Irish people to accept that. But then I put myself on the other side. My son was born in England, he likes football, he might have that decision.
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He continued: “I’m not saying he will be a professional footballer or anything but, if that decision comes his way, I’d just say, look, you’re English or Irish and just stick with that. I wouldn’t put pressure on that.
“Obviously, he’s born in England, all his friends are English. I obviously still instil into him to be proud of the Irish connection he has.
“I can’t see myself following England down the line or anything like that – But I’d make sure that he wouldn’t jump from England to Ireland or back to England or anything like that.”
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