Learn Hardcore Dutch: Onze bescheiden collega prijst liever het team dan zichzelf. - Our modest colleague prefers to praise the team rather than himself.

onze is used before de- words (common-gender nouns) and all plurals
ons is used before het- words (neuter-gender singular)
Since collega is a de-woord, you need onze collega.

What does prijst mean and why is it spelled with ij plus -t?

prijst is the third-person singular present form of prijzen (to praise).
The stem is prijs-, and Dutch adds -t for hij/zij/het: hij prijst.
The ij comes from the infinitive prijzen, not from English price.

How do you pronounce prijst?

The ij is pronounced like the English long i in ride.
The final -t is a normal voiceless t.
Phonetically roughly /prɛist/ or /prijst/.

What does liever … dan … express?

liever A dan B means “rather A than B” or “prefer A over B.”
Here: he prefers praising the team over praising himself.

Could you say prijst het team liever dan zichzelf instead?

Yes. Dutch allows some flexibility:

Hij prijst liever het team dan zichzelf. (place liever before the object)
Hij prijst het team liever dan zichzelf. (place liever after the object)
Both are correct; the nuance of emphasis shifts slightly.

Why is the reflexive pronoun zichzelf used instead of hemzelf or haarzelf?

Dutch uses zichzelf (or zich in shorter form) as the reflexive for all third-person subjects.
hemzelf and haarzelf exist but are outdated or dialectal.

Can we drop zelf and just say zich (… dan zich)?

In everyday speech you might hear dan zich, but in standard/formal Dutch zichzelf is preferred for clarity and emphasis.

Why is zichzelf placed at the end of the sentence?

Dutch word order typically puts:

Subject
Finite verb
Other verb parts
Objects/adverbials in a loose order
Here, zichzelf is the reflexive direct object and naturally comes after the verb and the primary object (het team).