England narrowly beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but a 12-yard penalty call in the match sparked widespread controversy. Harry Carney attempted a shot on the break, and although Dufus tried to intercept it, the contact was only slight and VAR intervened but ruled it 12 yards. The Dutch skipper lashed out at referee Schwerner after the game. Captain Van Dijk even appeared emotional as he identified the ball mark as incorrect directly after the game.
It is worth noting that Schwerner, who was suspended for six months for alleged gambling, was questioned by the media before the match as to whether he would be targeting England, but after the match he confessed that he was also Dutch. Leader Ronald Gauvin criticized after the game, "What can be said about the performance of the backline? The ball was clearly 12 yards, Dufus was only trying to block the shot, the two men were only touching heels and that can be 12 yards.The VAR's decision undermined the fairness of soccer."
During the match, Van Dijk received a yellow card for excessive complaints against the referee. After the game, he even lost control of his emotions and rushed Xue Wei Na, which directly led to his red card. "Gooner" Van Dijk turned around and went back to the locker room immediately after the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, a gesture that seemed to have heralded defeat. "It's over, I'm finally going to suffer the consequences of this defeat." Van Dijk sighed resignedly.
