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

Speaking shortly after his side’s defeat, Van Dijk claimed that Zwayer immediately left the pitch and says the German official’s reluctance to engage with the Dutch players and coaching staff after the full-time whistle ‘says it all’.

When asked about the performance of Zwayer, Van Dijk told beIN Sports: ‘I don’t know what to say, I don’t know if I should say something about this.

‘But I think it says it all that the referee went in quite quickly after the game, had no time to shake his hand.’

Asked the same question by Dutch broadcaster NOS, Van Dijk added: ‘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.’