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Virgil van Dijk has launched a tirade on referee Felix Zwayer after England booked their place in the final of Euro 2024.
The Three Lions progressed to the last two on Wednesday, where they will take on Spain on Sunday as they bid to lift their first-ever European Championship three years after they lost in the final of Euro 2020.
After trailing through a Xavi Simons stunner, Harry Kane netted from the penalty spot on the back of a contentious call that involved a VAR check and was slammed by pundits and fans.
Then, on the verge of full time, Ollie Watkins scored having come off the bench to send England to Sunday’s final, but that goal too wasn’t without controversy, with Netherlands believing they should have been awarded a corner in the build-up.
After the game, captain Van Dijk slammed Zwayer for his performance, suggesting his full time actions told the story of how his performance went.
“I don’t know if I should say something about that,” he told beIN Sports. “I said it to the Dutch media. I think it says it all that the referee went in quite quickly after the game. I had no time to shake his hand.
But it is what it is, the game is done, we lost, certain moments were obvious that they should have gone our way, but they didn’t, whatever the outcome. It is difficult to accept this. It has been a tough year. We had a big dream and we felt we could have achieved it.
“They keep changing certain things, small changes that could have a big impact. Maybe it’s a good thing that they could be held accountable as well. They didn’t come here and speak to you and explain themselves like we have to when we do something wrong. That might be something. But I shouldn’t speak about others and we have to look at ourselves.”
Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have fouled Kane after the Three Lions skipper had blazed an effort over the bar, with Gary Neville branding the call “a disgrace” on ITV punditry.
Jamie Carragher also blasted the call on social media, while fans suggested the referee got the decision wrong, despite it benefitting England.
Later in the game, when John Stones headed out a cross, Netherlands thought they had a corner, but for the referee to point for a goal kick, which led to Watkins’ goal. Van Dijk was booked for his protests, with the defender visibly emotional at full time. — (www.dailymail.co.uk).
derick.khumalo