Virgil van Dijk hit out at the reaction of referee Felix Zwayer in the immediate aftermath of England’s win against the Netherlands in their Euro 2024 semi final on Wednesday evening.
England have reached the Euro 2024 final and will now play Spain at 8pm on Sunday after Ollie Watkins’ goal in the 90th minute sealed a 2-1 win against the Dutch.
The Netherlands took an early lead through Xavi Simons’ fine long-range strike but England were handed the chance to equalise after they were given a generous penalty decision.
Denzel Dumfries attempted to block a shot from Harry Kane but ended up clipping the England captain on the foot. After a lengthy delay, the VAR team recommended referee Zwayer to review his decision and the German official opted to award Gareth Southgate’s side a penalty.
Kane stepped up to score from the spot to pull England level, leaving the Netherlands players and coaching staff furious with the call.
Speaking shortly after his side’s defeat, Van Dijk claimed that Zwayer immediately left the pitch and says the German official’s reaction after the full-time whistle ‘says it all’.
When asked about the performance of Zwayer, Van Dijk told Dutch broadcaster NOS: ‘It says it all that the referee went inside so quickly.
‘But to blame it on that, I don’t want to do that either. I just don’t know what to say. It hurts a lot.’
Van Dijk also rued the Netherlands’ inability to punish England as they looked stronger as the second half progressed.
‘If you concede it so late in the match, then that is of course terrible,’ Van Dijk said.
‘You put everything into it, everyone gives everything, and then when it falls like that in the last minute… that just sucks, sorry to say it like that.
‘You have more possession and want to punish the little moments that you get. It felt like we could make it 2-1. But that didn’t happen and now we’re standing here empty-handed.’
Meanwhile, former Netherlands striker, Pierre van Hooijdonk, has called for Zwayer to be stood down by UEFA after his nation’s Euro 2024 exit.
‘They can thank Felix Zwayer. He really needs to be blacklisted,’ Van Hooijdonk said. “Terrible.
‘Also in the second half. A duel with Cody Gakpo where he simply blew his whistle again, ten meters from the linesman. Those are moments that were crucial in this match.’
‘We can talk about it at length, but if you’re going to award a penalty for this. Then you could end up with eight of them on the spot in the final. Really terrible.’
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