Virgil van Dijk makes 'very scary' admission after Liverpool team-mate left in tears

Virgil van Dijk admits it was "very scary" to see Hungary assistant coach Adam Szalai collapse.

The coach bought Holland's 4-0 Nations League win on Saturday in Amsterdam to a stand still. It was halted after only seven minutes due to a medical emergency on the Hungary bench involving Szalai.

The match was suspended for more than 10 minutes as the 36-year-old received treatment. He was shield from players and staff members by a large white sheet. He departed the Johan Cruyff Arena on a stretcher before being taken to hospital as the crowd clapped him off.

Van Dijk skippered the Dutch and was taken a back by the incident with his Liverpool team-mate Dominik Szoboszlai - who was his opponent this weekend - being reduced to tears.

He told NOS: "It's a shock of course. You see someone lying down. You see someone shaking. Then it's a bit scary, to be honest. At one point it became clear that he was stable. I asked (Liverpool team-mate Dominik) Szoboszlai if he had experienced this before.

"It turned out that he had. It was very scary to see, but I hope he is doing well and that he can recover well. This is the most important thing now."

A statement from the Hungarian federation confirmed that Szalai was conscious. They said: "Ádám Szalai fell ill in the first minutes of the Netherlands-Hungary match, but his condition is stable and he is conscious. Minutes ago, he was transported by ambulance to an Amsterdam hospital for examination."

The contest took an emotional turn but the celebration from Wout Weghorst copped criticism. Former Manchester United and Burnley striker scored just minutes after Hungary’s assistant coach was taken to hospital. Weghorst did not hide his delight when he fired the hosts ahead from the penalty spot after 21 minutes.

Former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart was at the game working as a TV analyst and took aim at his compatriot. “Watching Weghorst celebrate made me sick to the stomach," he said.

“He should have realised that Hungary’s players were actually entitled to abandon the match and go to the dressing room. Instead they had a meeting on the pitch and decided to resume playing. That deserves massive respect because none of those players knew what the situation was at that moment."

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to read article