Curtis Jones and Lucas Leiva send messages to Liverpool star on Instagram

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Gini Wijnaldum donned the captain’s armband for the Netherlands on Tuesday night and scored a sensational hat-trick as his country defeated Estonia by five goals to nil – and borth Curtis Jones and Lucas Leiva have applauded the Liverpool star.

Virgil van Dijk missed his country’s last Euro 2020 qualifying match through personal reasons – leaving Wijnaldum with the chance to be captain for the day. He took it in his stride, shining in a free-flowing Netherlands side that look impressive.

Ronald Koeman’s men dispatched Estonia, who are a decent side on their day. Wijnaldum opened the scoring, rising highest to head home a cross from Quincy Promes. Nathan Ake made it two, heading home a Memphis Depay cross.

A mistake at the back allowed Wijnaldum to go one-on-one and he found the net with ease. His third was the pick of the bunch, cutting inside and curling an effort into the far corner after an excellent pass from AZ Alkmaar’s Calvin Stengs.

Stengs’ 17-year-old teammate Myron Boadu then scored his first goal for the Netherlands after nutmegging the goalkeeper. Netherlands have qualified for Euro 2020, finishing second in Group C behind Germany.

Liverpool’s £25m signing (Telegraph) posted on Instagram, expressing his delight after scoring three for Netherlands, helping them finish their qualifying campaign on a high. Liverpool teen Jones descibed him as a “baller”, while Lucas also commented.