Van der Vaart brands England 's***' as former Celtic hero demands Felix Zwayer is 'blacklisted' from football

Pierre van Hooijdonk slammed Zwayer's display as he reversed his decision not to award Harry Kane a spot kick in Euro 2024 semi-final

Rafael Van der Vaart has set his sharp tongue on England, branding them "s***."

The former Netherlands international watched as his nation let their early Euro 2024 lead slip after a highly controversial VAR penalty award allowed Harry Kane to cancel out Xavi Simon's opener before Ollie Watkins' impressive strike won it in stoppage time to book a spot in the final against Spain in Berlin on Sunday evening.

Van der Vaart has let rip several times during the tournament, calling out fellow Dutchmen and others alike, and now he's taking issue with how Gareth Southgate's team played during the last four clash in Dortmund. He told Dutch broadcaster NOS: "What a s*** team they are. Slowly, they didn't want to do anything anymore. They have such top players on the field. We didn't do much either. We had a few chances. There could have been so much more in it."

Meanwhile, fellow pundit and ex-Celtic frontman Pierre Van Hooijdonk has called for German ref Felix Zwayer to be "blacklisted." The German ref, who was convicted for his part in a 2005 match-fixing scandal, came under fire from Jude Bellingham back in 2021 following Dortmund's defeat to Bayern Munich.

But the England star benefitted from Zwayer's call to overturn his on-field decision and award England a penalty after Harry Kane booted Denzel Dumfries' studs before going over in the area after getting a shot away. Zwayer wasn't interested, until being called over to the. monitored by VAR and reversing his original decision, sparking Oranje fury.

And van Hooijdonk doesn't want to see the German in charge of any more games. He said: "They can thank Felix Zwayer. He really needs to be blacklisted. Terrible. Also in the second half. A duel with Cody Gakpo where he simply blew his whistle again, ten metres from the linesman. Those are moments that were crucial in this match."