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Steve Clarke demands explanation as Scotland denied penalty in Hungary defeat which ended Euro 2024 hopes | Football News

On: June 24, 2024 By: admin

Scotland boss Steve Clarke demanded answers why Scotland were denied a “100 per cent” penalty which he felt may have cost them their last-16 qualification at Euro 2024.

Stuart Armstrong appeared to be brought down by defender Willi Orban inside the area with Scotland’s final group game with Hungary goalless but Argentinian referee Facundo Tello declined to give a penalty – a decision Sky Sports’ Kris Boyd said he could not believe.

Clarke sympathised with the official but said VAR’s decision not to intervene after viewing replays of the incident was inexplicable.

“100 per cent penalty,” he said in his press conference. “Somebody somewhere has to explain to me why that’s not a penalty. It’s 100 per cent a penalty.

“It’s a one-goal game, we get the penalty, it could be a different night. I’ve got other words, but I’m not going to use them.

“It’s a European competition, it might have been better to have a European referee. The VAR was European, maybe the referee didn’t see the foul clearly on the pitch, but what’s the point in VAR if they’re not going to come in on something like that. It was a penalty.”

Former Scotland forward Boyd questioned why Tello was not sent to the pitch-side monitor by Spanish VAR Alejandro Hernandez, with Armstrong and his team-mates visibly incensed at the time.

“I’ve seen the penalty again and I cannot believe that hasn’t been given,” Boyd said on Sky Sports News. “It’s a natural football position – you get your arm across to protect the ball.

“The knee goes into the top of Armstrong’s calf. I cannot believe a penalty hasn’t been given. That would have changed everything.

“It’s a penalty all day long. If the referee had been able to go to the monitor, he might have been able to correct his wrong decision.”

Clarke: We need to work out how to score more goals

Despite realistically needing to win the game, Scotland failed to register a single shot on target until the eighth minute of added time in the second half, while three of their four shots in total came beyond the 90th minute.

Clarke refused to be drawn on what exactly had seen Scotland drop out of the European Championship in the group stage for the second tournament in a row, but admitted he would need to sit down with his staff to work out how they will score more goals in future competitions.

He said: “It’s very difficult to sit here and analyse, but sometimes after a defeat like that you need a bit of time just to digest everything and work out how the game went, why it went how it did.

“We didn’t create enough, but we did create enough to score a goal. That’s clear. Is that why we went out of the tournament?

“We scored two goals this tournament, we scored one last time. It’s one for me to go away and talk to my coaches about, about how we can score more goals at certain times in games of course.”

Rossi: We deserved to win

Victorious Hungary manager Marco Rossi said his side were worthy of their first victory of the tournament, one which gives them an outside hope of reaching the last 16 for the second European Championship out of their last three tournaments.

“The Scottish had a bit more ball possession, especially in the first half,” he admitted, but added: “In the second half it was more an up-and-down match, starting from around the 70th minute, almost 30 minutes in which there were situations from one side to the other.

“We can say that it was an equal match. Surely we had more chances, they had more of the ball, but overall I don’t think we didn’t deserve to win. It was deserved.”

On Scotland’s penalty, Rossi declined to offer his sympathies and instead drew comparisons to a foul he felt should have been given against Ilkay Gundogan ahead of Germany’s first goal during Hungary’s 2-0 defeat to the hosts in their previous game.

He said: “In the pre-match I said there was a clear foul on Orban by Gundogan, why do we have to talk now about this moment?

“I didn’t see it well from the bench, but if they didn’t give the penalty in the VAR room, they have seen it was not a penalty. Many pushes from the back in the European Championship are allowed.”

William Saliba impresses for France but all eyes on English officials as Netherlands denied – Euro 2024 hits and misses | Football News

On: June 21, 2024 By: admin

Offside decision puts spotlight back on officials

Euro 2024 has been remarkably free from officiating debate let alone controversy, a flick of Lois Openda’s hand being the chief cause for chatter. That changed on Friday evening and many will be amused that an English officiating team found itself at the centre of it.

The uneasy delays, the frantic glances, the interminable wait, the total lack of clarity. That familiar Premier League feeling returned as Anthony Taylor held his ear piece, awaiting Stuart Attwell’s verdict. It was almost enough to make you feel nostalgic.

Experts on the Laws of the Game may well tell us that the decision to rule out Xavi Simons’ strike into the corner of Mike Maignan’s net was correct on the grounds that the goalkeeper had spotted the presence of Denzel Dumfries in an offside position.

Those more familiar with watching football than reading rules might nevertheless conclude that Maignan would have been unlikely to tag Dumfries let alone the ball that was bound for his goal regardless. Diving for it was a thought barely formed in his brain.

That the decision fell to Taylor and co was a mere unhappy coincidence, in truth – and at least the consequences of the call are likely to be relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of the tournament, unless you happen to be a particularly optimistic Pole.

Let us hope that this little Group D moment was as controversial as the officiating will get at Euro 2024 and the next three weeks continue to play out serenely amid scenes of swift semi-automated bliss. Not convinced? Me neither.
Adam Bate

Saliba shines | More to come from France

Two games in for France and, thanks to that highly-debatable offside call against the Netherlands, two clean sheets for the tournament favourites. Arsenal’s William Saliba has been a big factor in that, oozing class in the centre of the France defence.

An ideal foil for the physical Dayot Upamecano, those much-publicised comments by Didier Deschamps alluding to weaknesses in Saliba’s game only become more baffling after each performance. There cannot be many better defenders in European football.

What is striking is how easy he makes it all look, a defender whose contribution does not necessarily always show up in the statistics. For instance, he did not make a single tackle. But he did not need to. He kept the ball with 86 of his 87 passes in the match.

The underlying numbers better reflect France’s control than that Xavi Simons moment. Against Austria, they registered an expected-goals total of 2.13 compared to their opponents’ 0.76. Here, their total was 1.42 compared to their opponents’ paltry 0.33.

At the other end, the goals will surely start flowing soon. Even without Kylian Mbappe, they created chances. Antoine Griezmann should have scored at least one, twice failing to find the finish from close range. One goal from two games does not tell the full story.

Either side of Saliba and Upamecano, the full-backs are rock solid and N’Golo Kante as impressive as ever in midfield. The forward players have not fired yet but the options in attack are plentiful. Expect Mbappe to have his day when the stakes are a little higher.

That might seem a generous appraisal after four points from two games – the same as England. But this side appears happier in its skin. Saliba has won over Deschamps. It would not be a surprise if the rest of France has followed suit by mid-July in Berlin.
Adam Bate

Amazing Austria are ones to watch

Austria had a place in many analysts’ Euro 2024 ‘dark horses’ picks. You can definitely see why after their latest display.

Ralf Rangnick’s side picked up their first win against Poland but did so in a very attractive style.

Full-backs Stefan Posch and Philipp Mwene were arguably their best sources of attack. Sitting midfielders Nicolas Seiwald and Konrad Laimer generated some of their best chances of the game. Poland’s defence could not deal with Christoph Baumgartner and Marcel Sabitzer’s running and work in the half spaces.

Now Austria stand on the brink of the knockout rounds and face a big game against the Netherlands to seal their place.

Getting second place could be crucial as it could be England in the first knockout round if they finish third. But looking at how both teams are playing, would that be so bad?
Sam Blitz

Emotional Ukraine deserve this moment

After Monday’s shock loss to Romania – a team ranked 23 places below them in the world rankings – Ukraine knew they had to respond against Slovakia to have a realistic chance of reaching the last 16, but they were disappointing in the first half even though they created several chances.

Despite their below-par performance, Rebrov’s decision to drop Real Madrid goalkeeper Lunin was an inspired one, with replacement Trubin making four fine saves which suggested he should have been his country’s No 1 in the first place.

The Benfica stopper kept his side in the match before Mudryk, who initially struggled to make an impact, began to grow in confidence. The Chelsea winger played an instrumental role in Ukraine’s equaliser and was unlucky not to score himself before being substituted with five minutes remaining.

By that time, he had already been involved in wild celebrations after substitute Yaremchuk produced a spectacular touch and finish to get Ukraine’s tournament up and running.

The winner saw Yaremchuk break down in tears and earn a kiss on the head from Zinchenko before the emotional scenes continued when the players applauded their supporters inside the Dusseldorf Arena after the final whistle.

Of course, many more Ukrainians will be watching from around the world and while it won’t change the heartbreaking situation back home, their first comeback win at the Euros since 2012 will hopefully bring some joy to those who need it most.
Dan Sansom

Poland lose again to assume unwanted status as first nation out

Robert Lewandowski’s absence due to a thigh injury was felt in Poland’s opening defeat to the Netherlands – and Austria must’ve been licking their lips when team news dropped on Friday night and they saw the talisman was, once again, not spearheading the attack.

It likely provided something of a mental boost for Ralf Rangnick’s men, who started like a house on fire in Berlin and scored the early goal that set the tone for the rest of the evening.

In truth, there wasn’t really a certain point where they were crying out for Lewandowski; for the second game in succession, a player deputising for him scored. It was Adam Buksa in the first game, Krzysztof Piatek in the second.

And when the Barcelona striker did come on, he had just 11 touches in around 34 minutes anyway.

As the case had been against the Dutch, it wasn’t that Poland were bad on the night, it was just that Austria were better. Rangnick has got them looking like a team with real promise; one to keep a very close eye on.

There were signs of Polish promise, certainly, but they mean nothing now. The fact the Netherlands and France played out a goalless draw later on in the evening means Poland are the first nation to exit the tournament. They are by no means a one-man team, but would an earlier introduction for Lewandowski have made the difference? We’ll never know.
Dan Long

Euro 2024 – Belgium 0-1 Slovakia: Romelu Lukaku denied twice by VAR as Red Devils suffer shock defeat in Group E opener | Football News

On: June 18, 2024 By: admin

Much-fancied Belgium experienced a disappointing start to their Euro 2024 campaign after losing out to lower-ranked Slovakia 1-0 in their Group E opener.

Ivan Schranz was Slovakia’s hero, capitalising on a Jeremy Doku error and collecting the deflection from Juraj Kucka’s strike, before guiding the ball expertly into the far corner from a tight angle – a move that survived extensive VAR review.

Romelu Lukaku was not quite so lucky. Twice Belgium’s leading scorer had the ball in the back of the net in the second period, and twice VAR intervened to chalk goals off.

The No 9, attempting to atone for a wasteful first half, was ruled a toe offside when slamming home Amadou Onana’s cross in the 56th minute, before rounding off a smart move to plant Lois Openda’s cross beyond Martin Dubravka in the final minute of the 90.

At first glance there looked to be very little wrong with the latter, but VAR was quick to spot the ball inadvertently glancing off Openda’s hand in the build-up, and recommended referee Halil Umut Meler take a second look. He did, and duly accepted the advice of the video official, controversially denying Lukaku once more.

Domenico Tedesco’s side, flat and frustrating for the most part, still created four ‘big chances’ (their most in a Euros game since 1980 vs Spain), but were unable to breach stubborn Slovakia, who top Group E alongside Romania.

Slovakia now face Ukraine on Friday knowing another win would send them into the last 16.

Analysis: Will Belgium ever live up to the hype?

Sky Sport’s Laura Hunter:

Perhaps Belgium are cursed. Perhaps unlucky. Or maybe this ‘golden generation’ simply isn’t as good as the hype – or third-place FIFA ranking – suggests. Whatever the intricacy or issue, they don’t seem to perform as predicted on the big stage.

Lukaku was wasteful, Kevin de Bruyne off-colour, Leandro Trossard ineffective. All over the pitch, in fact, Domenico Tedesco’s side underwhelmed, and that’s despite creating four ‘big chances’ and an xG of 1.91.

Game by game, the shine is flaking off what remains of Belgium’s reputation as one of Europe’s stellar sides. This is a team of individuals, far from a comprehensive unit of tournament winners.

And yet, there was something unjust about their opening game defeat. For all the obvious shortcomings, Lukaku did have the ball in the back of the net twice. The first was ruled offside, and so little argument can be made.

The second decision, however, jarred far more. This is the type of officiating that has drawn suspicion and skepticism in the Premier League, deemed by many as ‘re-refereeing’ – there is justification for both sides.

Lois Openda did handle the ball, but does that mean it’s handball? The rule is subjective, of course, but many believe this brand of VAR intervention to be a stain on the game. Jury’s out.

Either way, Belgium must improve if they are to avoid a repeat of Euro 2022, crashing out at the competition’s group stage.

Stats: Story of the match

Tedesco: We trust the officials

Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco: “The only thing that we didn’t do well was taking chances. We had plenty. It’s part of the game. Of course the players were disappointed.

“We had many chances, we pressed high. Normally you don’t lose this game. It hurts.”

Speaking about two VAR decisions to deny Belgium an equaliser, he added: “I want to be a fair loser – we trust the referees.”

Opta: Misfiring Belgium punished

Belgium have suffered their first group stage defeat at the European Championship since losing 2-0 to Italy in 2016 – they had won five in a row in the group stages before today’s defeat.
Slovakia have won each of their last four competitive internationals, their best winning run in competitive games since a run of five between 2016 and 2017.
Ivan Schranz’s goal in the seventh minute was the quickest goal Slovakia have scored at a major tournament and his fourth goal in 23 caps for his national team.
Belgium missed four Opta-defined big chances in this match, the first time they’d done so in a European Championship game since 1980 against Spain (also four missed).