A Netherlands star has made a surprise confession about the penalty that was awarded to England's Harry Kane during their 2024 UEFA European Championship semi-final.
Attacking midfielder Xavi Simons opened the scoring when he nicked the ball inside England's half before firing a thunderous shot past Jordan Pickford, giving the Dutch an early lead.
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Just a few minutes later, Kane was presented with a chance to level matters but volleyed the ball over the bar.
During that shot, however, the striker fell to the ground clutching his foot after Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries had attempted to block the strike but caught the Bayern Munich forward's foot while doing so.
The referee was then sent by the VAR to the screen to review the incident and ended up awarding the penalty that would get the Three Lions back into the game, which would ultimately be decided by an Ollie Watkins strike just before stoppage time.
There was much remonstration from the Netherlands players when the spot-kick was awarded, but Dumfries himself has since confessed that he knew what would end up happening as soon as the official went over to conduct a check for a potential penalty.
"I want to block the shot. I barely touch him," the fullback said, per the Mirror.
"I do think [it's a VAR penalty].
"You know when he goes to the sideline, he can give it. I take full responsibility."
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman, though, believes the penalty should not have been awarded.
"In my opinion, it should not have been a penalty," the ex-Barcelona boss said.
"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."
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