Virgil van Dijk receives 1st red card with Netherlands, shares frustration

Liverpool defender and captain Virgil van Dijk was given his marching orders as Netherlands secured a 1-1 Nations League draw with Hungary on Friday.

Virgil van Dijk received two yellow cards on the night and this forced his teammates to work tirelessly before securing all one point. The Liverpool defender two yellow cards came in three minutes late in the second half, the first for dissent and the second a foul which was a straightforward booking.

Speaking after the match, Van Dijk said he was “angry” with the decision to give him the first of two yellow cards.

“[The red card] is a bummer, should not have happened. But I’m especially angry about the first,” Van Dijk told ESPN Netherlands.

“They say the captain is the only one who can talk to the referee. I walk up to him. Up tempo, but not in a nasty way, not at all. Very respectful. Because I felt it was a breakaway player, he did not go for the ball at all. If even the captain can not say anything … then it gets difficult.”

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman was also left perplexed by his captain’s first booking.

“That moment was frustrating,” Koeman told the NOS. “I don’t understand it. I think we agreed that a captain can protest to a referee.

“That foul [on Malen] was good for a red card. There was no intention at all to play the ball. That Virgil then takes that second card is not convenient. He knows that himself.”

Netherland will face Germany in their next UEFA nations league clash..

Germany currrgently head Nations League Group A3 with seven points from three matches, two more points than the Netherlands.