After just four minutes of play in the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland, Virgil van Dijk was given a penalty.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, 32, had a night to forget in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium after he was sent off in the first minute for handling an early corner and had his Premier League suspension for a sending off against Newcastle United last month extended on Friday. When striker Adam Idah was given the chance to put his team up early, he made no mistake and calmly slotted the ball past defender Mark Flekken.

Cody Gakpo, Van Dijk’s teammate at Liverpool, rallied the Dutch to win by netting a penalty 15 minutes later, saving Van Dijk’s bacon. The Liverpool striker did the same thing Idah did in the first half by putting the ball into the right corner past a helpless Gavin Bazunu.

Then, on 56 minutes, Holland took the lead when on-loan Burnley winger Wout Weghorst finished off a Denzel Dumfries cross after the Dutch team had weathered a late first-half storm from Stephen Kelly’s side.

With four games left in Group B qualification, the 2-1 win in Dublin moved Van Dijk and Gakpo one step closer to sealing their spot at next summer’s European Championships in Germany.

Dominik Szoboszlai, meantime, had a great day playing for Hungary in their 1-1 tie with the Czech Republic in a friendly match. The 22-year-old captain of his national team was thrust into an unaccustomed advanced, left wing position to begin the season for Marco Rossi’s squad.

There was nothing at stake in Sunday’s match at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, but the Liverpool midfielder still managed to dazzle with a 91% pass completion percentage. Szoboszlai was seen on video passing an 80-yard diagonal to teammate Loic Nego.

As a result of Thursday’s crucial win against Serbia in Euro 2024 qualifying, Hungary now sits atop Group G at the halfway point of the qualification round.

Meanwhile, Kostas Tsimikas was a healthy scratch for Greece’s 5-0 rout of Gibraltar.

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