Ronald Koeman and Virgil van Dijk slam officials after England get controversial penalty against Netherlands

Ronald Koeman hit out at the decision to award England a penalty, as his Netherlands side fell to a painful 2-1 defeat in the Euro 2024 semi-finals.

Harry Kane went down in the box under a challenge from Denzel Dumfries, having fired an effort over the bar, and the referee was initially swift to ignore the penalty appeals from the England players.

However, Felix Zwayer was advised to look at the pitchside monitor after a VAR review and he inevitably then awarded the penalty, which Kane stepped up to hammer into the bottom corner.

That got England level in Dortmund in the first-half, after Xavi Simons’ brilliant opener had given the Dutch an early lead, and Koeman was left hugely frustrated.

"What do you do as a defender?" Koeman said at his post-match press conference.

"This is not a penalty. Dumfries wanted to block the ball. Then the shoes collide. Such VAR decisions destroy football.”

An increasingly cagey semi-final looked to be drifting towards extra-time, until substitute Ollie Watkins took Cole Palmer’s path in his stride and drilled a wonderful low strike into the bottom corner. That 90th-minute winner gave England a 2-1 win and sent them through to the final, where they will face Spain on final.

The Three Lions have the chance to win a first major trophy for 58 years, but the Netherlands’ own 36-year wait for one of football’s biggest prizes goes on.

Virgil van Dijk, who was booked in the second-half for dissent after the referee failed to award the Netherlands a corner, also took aim at Zwayer, suggesting that the official did not want to face the players after the match.

“The referee ran back inside straight after the full-time whistle, that says a lot,” Van Dijk said.

“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.”