Ronald Koeman believes that the referee unfairly awarded a penalty against his team.
The head coach of the Netherlands national team Ronald Koeman was dissatisfied with the work of the referees in the semi-final match of Euro 2024 against England.
The Oranje coach criticized the referees' decision to award a penalty against his team, thanks to which the opponent equalized the score.
“In my opinion it's not a penalty. Dumfries only wanted to play the ball. Kane shot at goal and then their legs collided. I think we can't play football properly and it's all because of VAR. It's killing football “, Koeman said in a commentary to ESPN.
The episode that caused a lot of controversy occurred in the first half when the score was 1:0 in favor of the Netherlands. Orange defender Denzel Dumfries, in his own penalty area, crashed his foot into the leg of Three Lions captain Harry Kane, who had previously managed to shoot at goal – the ball flew over the crossbar.
Video assistants advised the main referee of the match, Felix Zweier, reviewed the replay of the moment on the VAR monitor, after which he awarded a penalty against the Netherlands team. With an accurate shot from the penalty spot, Kane restored parity in the match.
We would like to remind you that England snatched victory over the Netherlands at the end of the second half (2:1). The decisive goal in the 90th minute was scored by Ollie Watkins, who ten minutes earlier had come on as a substitute for Kane.
In the Euro 2024 final, Gareth Southgate's team will face Spain, who were in the first semi-final beatFrance (2:1).
The final match of the 2024 European Championship will take place on Sunday, July 14, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The starting whistle will sound at 22:00 Kyiv time.