Van Dijk’s first comment after Netherlands’ exit from Euro 2024

The Netherlands bid farewell to the continental tournament following losing to England on Wednesday evening, 1-2.

The Netherlands were the first to open the scoring through Xavi Simons in the seventh minute, and England responded through their captain Harry Kane with an equaliser from a penalty kick (18) awarded by referee Felix Zwayer following returning to the video assistant referee (VAR) technology.

And with the game dying down, substitute Ollie Watkins managed to snatch the winning goal for England in the first minute of stoppage time.

After the match, Van Dijk spoke regarding his country’s exit from the semi-finals of “Euro 2024”, saying in statements to the “BeIN Sports” network: “Why shouldn’t referees explain their decisions? I said that to the Dutch media, the referee (Felix Zwayer) decided to quickly return to his room (following the end of the match) and left the field without me shaking his hand, that explains everything,” referring to the German referee making mistakes that caused the Netherlands to lose.

“It is difficult to accept this loss. We had a very difficult year. We had a big dream and we felt that we were close to achieving it, but there are very small details that affect the course of any match very greatly. They did not come here to explain to us what happened, like we (the players) do when we make a mistake. But in general, I should not talk too much regarding others. We have to look at ourselves first and foremost.”

Source: Agencies