VIRGIL VAN DIJK raged at controversial referee Felix Zwayer after decisions went against the Netherlands in their Euro semi-final defeat to England.
Gareth Southgate’s men were awarded a first-half penalty after Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have fouled Harry Kane following a VAR review.
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Kane scored the penalty to level at 1-1, before another controversial moment occurred in the build-up to England’s injury-time winner.
The Netherlands should have scored a late corner, but a goal kick was awarded instead.
Seconds later, the ball reached the other end and Ollie Watkins scored to send England through to the final.
Subsequently, Dutch striker Xavi Simons was fined for protesting against Zwayer – who was involved in a match-fixing scandal in 2005.
And Van Dijk criticized Zwayer’s conduct during the post-match interview, stating that his players “didn’t have time to shake his hand”.
Talking about beIN Sportshe said, “I don’t know what I should say, I don’t know if I should say anything about this.
“I said this to our Dutch media, it says it all that the referee came in quickly after the game and we didn’t have time to shake his hand.
“It is what it is, the game is done, it is very difficult to take.
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“At certain times it is obvious that [decisions] It should have gone our way, but it didn’t. I don’t know what to say, it’s hard to accept this.
“It was a very long year, a difficult year. We had a big dream and we felt we could have achieved it as a team, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
Former England defender Gary Neville criticized the penalty decision, calling it a “disgrace”.
And Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman had a similar opinion as he appeared frustrated after the game.
He said: “What do you do as a defender? This is not a penalty.
“Dumfries wanted to block the ball. Then the shoes collided. These VAR decisions destroy football.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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