Van Dijk clashed with De Telegraaf journalist Valentijn Driessen at a press conference on Wednesday, hitting back at claims he was responsible for the Netherlands' World Cup exit to Morocco this summer.
The Dutch lost on penalties, 3-2 after a 1-1 draw, in the round of 32, a result that cost Ronald Koeman his job and brought in Barcelona great Xavi as his replacement, with Van Dijk sitting beside the new head coach as the exchange unfolded.
Driessen had written in June that Van Dijk and Koeman had "betrayed everything our national team stands for", suggesting Koeman's switch to a back five against Morocco had been designed to protect his captain.
Asked what had gone wrong at the tournament, Van Dijk said: "One of your colleagues also said, of course, that it was my idea to switch to playing with a back five.
"That is utter nonsense. The fact is we simply failed at the World Cup; those are the hard facts."
Sensing the tension, Driessen pressed further, asking if the defender was being uncharacteristically curt because the media coverage was "getting under his skin".
Van Dijk replied: "I've never had anything against the media, but when nonsense is being sent out there... We didn't play a good World Cup. It's not about me. You perform together; you're a team. Your claim that I destroyed Dutch football after the World Cup – that sort of thing is completely baseless..."
Driessen began to respond before the team's press officer stepped in to end the exchange. Van Dijk also said he feels judged differently in the Netherlands than elsewhere in the football world, adding that his career should be assessed the same way as anyone else's.
Van Dijk, who has 96 caps since his October 2015 debut and has captained the Netherlands since 2018, could win his 100th cap if he features in all four of the Oranje's upcoming Nations League fixtures, against Germany, Greece and Serbia twice. He considered stepping away from international football after the Morocco defeat before a conversation with Xavi persuaded him to continue.