Virgil van Dijk responds to ‘scary’ incident after Liverpool teammate left in tears | Football | Sport

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has admitted it was “very scary” to witness the collapse of Hungary assistant coach Adam Szalai, which brought the Netherlands’ 4-0 Nations League victory in Amsterdam to an abrupt halt on Saturday .

The match was stopped in the seventh minute when the Hungarian bench faced a medical crisis when 36-year-old Szalai fell ill.

Play was suspended for more than ten minutes while Szalai received emergency care, with anxious players and staff shielded by a large white sheet.

Emergency services assisted Szalai before he was carried out of the Johan Cruijff Arena to loud applause from the crowd.

Skipper Van Dijk was particularly affected by the event Liverpool Compatriot Dominik Szoboszlai was deeply affected and in tears and said to the NOS: “It is of course a bit of a shock. You see someone lying down.

“You see someone shaking. Then it’s a bit scary, to be honest. At some point it became clear that he was stable. I asked (Liverpool teammate Dominik) Szoboszlai whether he had experienced this before.

“That turned out to be the case. It was very scary to see, but I hope he is doing well and can recover well. This is the most important thing now.”

The Hungarian federation offered reassurance about Szalai’s well-being in their statement: “Adam Szalai fell ill in the first minutes of the Netherlands-Hungary match, but his condition is stable and he is conscious.

“A few minutes ago he was transported by ambulance to an Amsterdam hospital for examination.”

The match took a moving turn, but Wout Weghorst’s goal celebration has sparked controversy.

The ex-Manchester United and the Burnley striker scored shortly after Hungary’s assistant coach was rushed to hospital.

Weghorst could not suppress his joy when he gave the home team the lead from the spot after 21 minutes. Dutch legend Rafael van der Vaart, present as a TV expert, denounced his compatriot’s actions.

“When I saw Weghorst celebrating, I felt sick,” he said. “He should have realized that Hungary’s players actually had the right to abandon the match and go to the dressing room.

“Instead, they had a meeting on the field and decided to resume play. That deserves enormous respect because none of those players knew what the situation was at the time.”