Shane Long recalls hilarious prank that left Virgil Van Dijk 'raging'

Shane Long once placed a memento in Virgil Van Dijk's locker that left the centre-half raging.

Shane Long once pulled a prank on Virgil Van Dijk that left the Dutch superstar 'raging' during their time as teammates at Southampton.

While both were playing for the Saints, the duo clashed on International duty when the Republic of Ireland took on Netherlands in a pre-Euro 2016 friendly at the Aviva Stadium.

The game ended 1-1, with Long bagging for Ireland just weeks before the Boys in Green headed to France under the leadership of Roy Keane and Martin O'Neill. The striker tapped in from close range and thanks to an opportunistic photographer, he was presented with a perfect opportunity to troll the big defender.

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"I played against him for Liverpool, obviously, and Holland as well," began Long on Ben Foster's Fozcast podcast.

"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.

"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 was raging. Just a little joke - 'you can't mark me.' Nobody knew he wasn't marking me."

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