Virgil van Dijk slams referee reaction after England beat Netherlands at Euro 2024

Van Dijk Criticizes Referee After England Beats Netherlands In Euro 2024 Semi-final

Chris Davie's post was published on July 10, 2024, at 10:55pm and was updated on July 11, 2024, at 12:39am.

Virgil van Dijk criticized the response of referee Felix Zwayer following England's victory over the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final on Wednesday night.

England made it to the Euro 2024 final and will face Spain at 8pm on Sunday. The victory was secured with Ollie Watkins scoring in the 90th minute, leading to a 2-1 win against the Dutch.

The Netherlands scored first with Xavi Simons' impressive long-range shot, but England had the opportunity to tie the game when they were awarded a questionable penalty.

England defeated Netherlands to advance to the final of Euro 2024. Here's how it all unfolded.

Denzel Dumfries tried to stop a shot from Harry Kane, but accidentally hit the England captain's foot instead. The VAR team advised referee Zwayer to check the decision, and he decided to give Gareth Southgate's team a penalty after a long pause.

Kane confidently took his penalty kick to tie the game for England, which made the Netherlands players and coaches angry about the decision.

Van Dijk spoke right after his team lost, mentioning that Zwayer quickly exited the field. He stated that the German official's lack of interaction with the Dutch players and coaching staff after the game speaks volumes.

When questioned about Zwayer's performance, Van Dijk commented to beIN Sports: 'I'm at a loss for words, unsure if I should even say anything about it.'

However, I believe the situation speaks volumes when the referee swiftly entered the field after the game and did not have the opportunity to shake hands.

In a recent interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS, Van Dijk was questioned about the situation. He responded, "I don't want to solely attribute blame to that. I am at a loss for words. It is very painful."

Van Dijk also lamented that the Netherlands failed to take advantage of their opportunities to score against England, despite improving their performance in the second half.

"If you give up a goal so close to the end of the game, then that is definitely not good," Van Dijk commented.

You give your all, everyone puts in their best effort, and then when it all goes wrong at the last minute... that's just really disappointing, I hate to put it that way.

You have more control and desire to take advantage of the small opportunities you receive. It seemed like we could score another goal to make it 2-1. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and now we're left with nothing.

In the meantime, retired Netherlands striker, Pierre van Hooijdonk, has demanded that Zwayer be removed from his position by UEFA following his country's elimination from Euro 2024.

"Thanks to Felix Zwayer, they should really consider banning him," Van Hooijdonk commented. "Absolutely dreadful."

Also in the latter part of the game, there was a face-off with Cody Gakpo where he once again stopped play, ten meters away from the assistant referee. These were decisive moments in the game.

We could discuss this in detail, but if you decide to give a penalty for this, you may end up with eight penalties in the final. That would be really awful.

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