Virgil Van Dijk embraced referee Ovidiu Hategan at the end of the Netherlands' draw with Germany after learning that the official's mother had recently died.
Just moments before the final whistle, the towering centre-back lashed home an equalising goal to send his country into the 2019 Uefa Nations League Finals. Rather than celebrate with his fellow teammates, Van Dijk was filmed approaching Hategan, who had gone about his refereeing duties despite his recent family bereavement.
The Liverpool defender embraced Hategan and was filmed sharing a few quiet words in the ear of the Romanian referee.
After the match, Van Dijk explained what was said between himself and Hategan.
"He told me his mom recently passed away. He broke down and started crying. I consoled him and told him he refereed well. Its a small thing, but I hope it helped" he said, as per the Daily Mail.
"I wished him strength and said that he had done well."
The Netherlands will be competing against England, Switzerland and Portugal in the Nations League Finals next June after the Oranje unexpectedly finished ahead of both France and Germany in group A1.
As for Van Dijk, he will be focusing his attentions solely on Liverpool as the reds look to close the gap to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
There is no international action until the qualification process for the 2020 European Championship begins in March 2019, so Liverpool won't need to worry about the Dutchman getting distracted by international obligations anytime soon.
Source :
90min
