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Both France and the Netherlands opened their UEFA Euro 2024 campaign with a win in their respective clashes against Austria and Poland. In their second Group D clash, both teams played a goalless draw against each other on Friday, leaving Poland out of contention for Round of 16 qualifications. However, the Dutch side were furious with the first goalless draw of the edition as the match official disallowed a goal in a controversial decision.
The goalless draw between France and the Netherlands also broke the 50-game streak in the European Championship of scoring at least one goal. Netherlands star defender Virgil van Dijk expressed his displeasure with the referee's decision and criticised them for ruling out the goal.
France missed several goal-scoring opportunities in the absence of their star forward Kylian Mbappe, who was on the bench due to a nose injury. During the 69th minute, Mike Maignan saved a shot from Netherlands striker Memphis Depay, and midfielder Xavi Simons latched onto the deflection scoring the goal in the bottom corner. However, a lengthy VAR check disallowed the goal as Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have blocked the French goalkeeper.
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After the match, the Oranje expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision and blasted the officials. In a post-match interview, Van Dijk slammed the English referee and said, "We scored a goal that is a fair goal. He had no chance to get into that corner. But yeah, the English referee decided to disallow it."
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Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman reacts to disallowed goal
Apart from Van Dijk, the Oranje coach also expressed his displeasure with the controversial decision and said, "I think the position of Dumfries is offside, that is true. But he is not disturbing the goalkeeper and when that is not happening, it is a legal goal, in my opinion."
However, France manager Didier Deschamps supported the referee's decision and said, "I was a little taken aback by how long it took. Because, for me, when I saw the image on the screen for me it was a no-brainer."
France and the Netherlands will face Poland and Austria respectively in their final group stage clash and both will look to seize the top spot in Group D.
