The season is finally over for Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk after the Netherlands lost in the Euro 2024 semi-final.
For any neutral Liverpool supporters, the Dutch were perhaps the team of choice at the tournament in Germany.
With Van Dijk as captain and Anfield teammates Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch also in the squad, there was a certain Red feeling to the Oranje.
Having taken England all the way to the final minute of the match with a 1-1 scoreline though, the Netherlands were undone by a last-gasp winner from Ollie Watkins.
As the pain of defeat hit home after the match, Liverpool skipper Van Dijk was left to fume about what could have been.
Virgil van Dijk slams Euros referee
The Dutch started especially well against England on Wednesday. Xavi Simons put Van Dijk and co 1-0 up within the opening eight minutes.
However, the turning point of the match came around ten minutes later. Although referee Felix Zwayer initially saw nothing wrong with Denzel Dumfries’ block on Harry Kane in the penalty box, the VAR urged him to take a second look.
After going to the monitor, Zwayer awarded a very harsh looking penalty. Kane duly slotted it away.
Kane talked Van Dijk up before the match, but it was the Liverpool captain who will be left to look back with dismay at such a crucial moment.
There was more fume for Virgil when Zwayer incorrectly awarded an England goal-kick instead of a Netherlands corner as the clock ticked down. The 33-year-old was booked for his protests.
READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand shares whether he thinks Ronald Koeman was better than Virgil van Dijk
It was clear that the German referee was going to be a big talking point for the Dutch after the game. And speaking to beIN SPORTS, Van Dijk admitted that he’d seen something unusual from Zwayer upon full-time, too.
“I don’t know what to say,” said the defender. “I don’t know if I should say something about this but I said it outside to the Dutch media. I think it says it all when the referee went inside quite quickly after the game. I had no time to shake his hand.
“But listen, it is what it is, the game is done, we lost, it’s very tough to take,” Van Dijk added. “In certain moments it’s obvious that it should have gone our way but it didn’t.
“It’s difficult to accept this. It’s been a very, very long year, a tough year. We had a big dream and we felt like we could have achieve that as a team. It’s tough.”
How did Virgil van Dijk play?
Although Van Dijk and his teammates certainly have some cause to be upset about Zwayer and his team on the night, they perhaps didn’t do enough to get through against England.
Having been comfortably second best during the first-half, they did assert some more control in the second period.
However, it never really felt enough to push a dogged England team out of the competition.
For Van Dijk himself, he could not have really done much more to influence that. The big centre-back performed his duties well without ever really excelling.
Neither of England’s goals could be pinned on the Reds captain, although if he was being harsh on himself he’ll feel he could perhaps have intercepted Cole Palmer’s pass to Watkins to the winner.
As for Gakpo, he didn’t have his best game while Gravenberch remained rooted to the bench. Hard luck lads, enjoy your rest and come back refreshed for another big season.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
