Ronald Koeman has criticized the penalty awarded for England’s equalizer in the Euro 2024 semi-finals, saying if it was deemed a foul then normal football would be over.
Harry Kane scored on the spot after the Video Assistant Referee suggested to Felix Zwaye that he use the pitchside monitor to reassess Denzel Dumfries’ attempt to block the England captain’s shot. Just after Kane’s shot went over the crossbar, Dumfries’ right foot struck Kane’s foot.
“As a former defender, what can he do in this position?” Koeman said. “He tried to block the ball… To punish him is to tell him that we can’t play normally.” The Dutch head coach also said: “I think we can’t play normally and it’s because of VAR. This really destroys football.”
His captain Virgil van Dijk asked Zvajle to explain his decision and believes the referee knew he had made a mistake in the way he handled himself at full-time. “I don’t know what to say,” Van Dijk told beIN Sports. “I don’t know if I should say anything about it… I think the referee got involved in everything very quickly after the game. I didn’t have time to shake his hand. But listen, that’s what it is. The game is over. We lost, It’s hard to capture certain moments.
Liverpool defender suggests referees should face the media “Let them come here and talk to you and explain themselves at some point, just like we have to explain ourselves when we do something wrong. I think it can be a problem, but I shouldn’t talk about others, we have to look at ourselves, unfortunately It’s us who are out.
Koeman spoke positively of his team’s performance throughout the tournament. “We should be proud because we have achieved a lot in these weeks and there is no criticism after seeing how my players fought until the end,” he said.
“We fought like lions. We just needed a little more balance and England did it better than us, so congratulations to them.
