On the “worst pitch ever,” Virgil van Dijk defies laser pen antics got victory for Netherland
Virgil van Dijk was the hero as the Netherlands dominated Greece at Euro 2024 despite some obstacles in the captain’s way.
Group B of next summer’s European Championship qualifiers took a decisive turn on Monday evening under the leadership of France.
Greece finished second in the match against the Netherlands, with Ronald Koeman’s side having three points from the game.
It took Van Dijk’s third-minute penalty to secure a 1-0 win for the Dutch – and take control of the final automatic qualification spot.
Holland had already seen one spot-kick saved midway through the first half and Wout Weghorst denied seeing the laser pen in his eyes shining during the game. Van Dijk’s effort was interrupted by the same shenanigans, but the centre-back stepped up and slotted into the top corner with ice-cold confidence.
“You try to stay calm, but it wasn’t easy with the VAR control and all those laser pointers,” the 32-year-old was quoted as saying by De Telegraaf.
Koeman previously acknowledged the presence of laser pointers at AEK Athens games and asked UEFA to intervene if this happened on Monday.
His team played a fierce clash at the Agia Sofia Stadium in Athens and the Greek fans created a frenzy to give Kostas Tsimikas and his teammates a boost.
Another factor, according to both Van Dijk and Weghorst, was the condition of the pitch, which the latter described as “the worst pitch I’ve ever played on”.
“There were rocks!” The striker added, with Van Dijk quoted by NOS as saying: “Terrible. It is unthinkable that that pitch is allowed at this level.”
The victory moves the Netherlands level in points with Greece, but with opposite results and games, defeated the side of Gus Poyet twice in qualifying.
Tsimikas played the entire 90 minutes of the match as a left winger.
Elsewhere on Monday night, Diogo Jota came off the bench for the final 24 minutes of Portugal’s 5-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mohamed Salah played the whole game as Egypt slipped up in the third minute of extra time to draw 1-1 with Algeria in a friendly.
And finally, Harvey Elliott captained the England Under-21s as a first-time starter, assisting their second goal in a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Ukraine.
