Dumfries makes Kane confession after controversial semi-final penalty

Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries has shouldered the blame for the contentious penalty given to England.

However, the full-back has insisted that he barely touched the former Tottenham Hotspur forward. The Netherlands were left in shock when a penalty was awarded to the Three Lions during their semi-final after a VAR review.

Dumfries had tried to intercept a Kane attempt and the Bayern Munich player’s reaction on the ground allowed time for the incident to be scrutinised. Although the England captain seemed to make contact with Dumfries while attempting to shoot, the initial consensus was that it wouldn’t result in a penalty.

However, the referee consulted the pitch-side monitor and decided to award the spot-kick, enabling England to level the score. The Inter Milan defender admitted he anticipated the outcome as soon as the referee opted for a second look.

He said: “I want to block the shot. I barely touch him. I do think [it’s a VAR penalty]. You know when he goes to the sideline, he can give it. I take full responsibility.”

Dutch boss Ronald 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.”

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While Virgil van Dijk said: “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know if I should say something about this. But I think it says it all that the referee went in quite quickly after the game, had no time to shake his hand.”

And Gary Neville, part of the ITV punditry line-up, confessed that handing England a penalty was ‘an absolutely disgraceful decision’. “There’s no way that was a penalty,” he said. “He just goes in naturally to block the shot. It’s not a penalty for me.”