HUNGARY PRAISED FOR CARRYING ON

Dutch captain van Dijk hails rivals' strength to play on after assistant coach's bout of fits

- 

Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk praised opponents Hungary for their decision to play on in their Nations League clash on Nov 16, after their assistant coach Adam Szalai appeared to have suffered a fit on the bench only minutes after kick-off.

There was a 13-minute medical delay as Szalai was treated pitch-side before being taken to an Amsterdam hospital. The Hungarian Football Federation said afterwards that he was recovering.

He could be seen lying on the floor, next to the team's bench, with his legs twitching and kicking uncontrollably as staff and substitutes quickly formed a protective barrier around him.

"That was quite a shock, of course. You see someone lying down, you see someone shaking. That is quite scary. But thankfully, at a certain point it became clear that he was stable," van Dijk told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

He heard from his Liverpool teammate Dominik Szoboszlai, who captained Hungary, that Szalai had suffered a similar incident previously.