LAURA WOODS cracked football fans up on Wednesday evening when she made an awkward gaffe on TNT Sports’ Champions League coverage.
The experienced presenter was taking part in the post-match review of a thrilling game between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid when she made the blunder.
Match winner and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk will not be pleased as he ended up the butt of the unfortunate slip-up, which saw her comically mess up his name in an unfortunate way.
When summarising the game, Woods described their late goal as: “A 92nd-minute winner from Liverpool captain Virgin val- Virgil van Dijk…” before letting out a snigger.
The 38-year-old took a moment to compose herself before adding “…means they pick up three points at Anfield.”
Fans watching the action couldn’t believe their ears, and took to social media to laugh about the slip-up.
One X user laughed: “Did Laura Woods just call him Virgin van Dijk?”
Another fan was clearly eager to give the Dutchman his gratitude for scoring the late goal, joking: “Laura Woods… ‘Virgin van Dijk’. I’ll be your 1st big man” accompanied with several hearts
And it was apparently not the only time she did so in the match, with some fans pointing out it was her second time she had blundered in the same way in the broadcast.
A third fan noted: “That’s twice now Laura Woods has called van Dijk ‘Virgin.'”
It seems Woods, a famous Arsenal fan, is going to some extreme measures to get into the head of their title rivals’ captain in these early stages of the season.
It was the latest in a series of bizarre moments that littered the match.
TNT commentators Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist saw their chairs ‘collapse’ in the stands during the game, presumably because the match action had them jumping with excitement.
Liverpool sprinted into an early lead, with Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah both scoring within the opening six minutes to give the hosts a commanding lead.
Liverpool Champions League bogeyman Marcos Llorente struck back with two to draw the game level late on, meaning the Spaniard has scored four of his seven career Champions League goals against the Reds at Anfield.
Van Dijk, virgin or not, rose highest in the 92nd minute to smash home a header and send the home crowd into raptures.
And Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone clearly wanted to be part of the festivities too, attempting to barge his way into the crowd after apparently taking issue with comments from spectators behind him.
The Argentinian had to be restrained by stewards before being sent off by the referee for the final minutes of the contest.
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