Virgil van Dijk shares heartbreaking reaction as England ruins his Euro 2024 dream

Virgil van Dijk could not hide his immense disappointment as his national side missed out on a place in the European Championship finals after England secured the win in the dying seconds of the game.

In a back-and-forth semi-final, the ball fell to Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins in the 91st minute, with him able to spin with his back to goal and fire the ball into the bottom corner to win the game. This had come after Xavi Simons opened the scoring, before England levelled with a controversial penalty scored by Harry Kane.

The Netherlands had rallied in the second half and looked the more likely to score a winner, before England improved with their changes with Watkins the man to grab the winner. And speaking after the game, Van Dijk apologized to the nation and its supporters as he shared an emotional reaction.

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"That we conceded this goal so late in the game and are now empty-handed, that really hurts," said the captain of the Dutch team. "You put everything into it, everyone gives everything and when the goal comes in the last minute, that just sucks. Yeah, sorry."

The performance of the referee has been much debated on social media, with England getting a number of generous calls including the penalty which many had believed not to be a foul.

At the end of the game, both teams made numerous substitutions, with the referee blowing his whistle after just three minutes of stoppage time before running into the locker room after the whistle blew.

An emotional Van Dijk added: "It says it all that the referee goes in so quickly. But to put the blame there, I don't really want to do that either. I'm standing here, but I don't know what to say."

Liverpool's Cody Gakpo had impressed in the game, but did have some crucial moments that he'd liked to have had back in what had been a performance that had been eerily similar to many of his games in Red - being lackluster in the final third with his end product.

But both Gakpo and Van Dijk have put in strong performances throughout the tournament, as they now will have an extended break for rejoining Liverpool under fellow countryman Arne Slot.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez will now advance to the final, where they meet Spain on Sunday after reaching the final game in the tournament in back-to-back years.