They all but accused England of cheating their way through, and have called for the referee to be blacklisted. England’s last-gasp decider from Ollie Watkins sealed their route to the final against Spain on Sunday, but it did not come without controversy. After opening their account after seven minutes with a scorcher from Simons that screwed into the top corner of the net, despite England keeper Jordan Pickford getting a hand to it, the Dutch were livid when Harry Kane was adjudged to have been fouled by Dumfries following a VAR review.
Most Read on Euro Weekly News Kane silences critics with penalty Kane coolly found the left corner, despite Verbruggen guessing correctly and diving the right way. It was simply too powerful a shot and too close to the woodwork to stop. Dutch media were furious, claiming that Sark had committed a handball in the build-up.
They called for the referee to be blacklisted. Typical of the reaction was former national team star Rafael van der Vaart, who told (NOS), one of the Dutch public broadcasters, “What a s*** team they are,” he fumed. “Slowly, they didn’t want to do anything anymore.
They have such top players on the field.” Grudgingly, he conceded, “We didn’t do much either. We had a few chances.
There could have been so much more in it.” Referee should be “blacklisted” (VI), a Dutch football magazine, was incensed, pointing out Saka’s alleged handball. claimed the “international press were unanimous about the penalt.