Oranje fans left frustrated after Saka ‘handball’ in England victory

Dutch fans in both Germany and the Netherlands have been left despondent after a social media storm has centred around a somewhat dubious handball before England’s equalising goal in last night’s Euro 2024 semi-final defeat.

The Netherlands took the lead through an emphatically struck effort from Xavi Simons after seven minutes, yet the Three Lions battled back with the help of fine-margin penalty as Oranje’s Denzel Dumfries went studs-up toward Harry Kane in the penalty area on 15 minutes.

Late drama then spelled defeat for Ronald Koeman’s side, as Gareth Southgate brought on Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins, with the latter scoring in the 90th minute with an assist from the Chelsea man.

While the penalty itself has been scrutinised enough, social media users have been quick to suggest that play should’ve been stopped earlier as Bukayo Saka looked to handle the ball outside the box.

When the question of the penalty was raised to Dumfries himself, he gave a flat response, saying: “I hit him (Harry Kane) on the side of his foot. If the VAR stops him, then you know he can give it. It’s a terrible shame, but that’s football“.

When asked of the handball, he continued, “I have to say that I didn’t see that. But if it’s handball, then it’s handball. Then of course it should never continue.“

One man who was far more annoyed about the penalty, was manager Ronald Koeman. After the tense match, that saw substitute Ollie Watkins snatch the late English winner, Koeman fumed: “In my opinion it should not have been a penalty. He kicked the ball and the boots touched. I think that we cannot play properly football and this is due to VAR. It really breaks football.”

Dumfries offered more calm, and was quick to salute goalscorer Xavi Simons. “It was a great goal by Xavi, we must not forget that. No matter how people talked about him, no matter how difficult it was for him at times, he always remained stoic and that also shows how resilient the mindset in this team is.”

With many deeming Simons to be a large part of the future of Dutch football, the Paris Saint-Germain midfield maestro earned praise far and wide for how he’s dealt with the dramatic Wednesday night defeat.

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield