England are through to the Euro 2024 final where they will meet Spain after defeating the Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-final. Harry Kane equalized from the penalty spot after Xavi Simons had opened the scoring, but the decision to award the spot kick has been described as ‘harsh’.
Simons stunned the Three Lions with a long-range thunderbolt after driving past Declan Rice in the middle of the park. Gareth Southgate’s side fell behind for the third game running after seeing the wonder goal fly past Jordan Pickford.
However, that lead didn’t last too long as the referee pointed to the spot after a collision between Kane and Inter Milan wing-back Denzel Dumfries. There was a coming together between the two players after the England forward blasted a volley over the crossbar.
Many watching on were adamant that a spot kick shouldn’t have been awarded and the referee initially agreed. However, after being advised to review the incident on the pitchside monitor by VAR, Felix Zwayer reversed his earlier call and pointed to the spot.
Kane dusted himself off and rifled an effort past Bart Verbruggen to bring his side back into the game.
“There’s an unwritten law in football that if a player manages to complete a shot on goal and is then caught by a defending player, there shouldn’t be a penalty. So why is that? Mainly it’s because the attacking team cannot lose out on anything because of the challenge — the shot has been released and the move is over.” Stated ESPN’s Dale Johnson.
Despite the forward being able to take the shot, Johnson explained how he believes the VAR and referee concluded that a penalty should be awarded: “It’s a very harsh intervention by the VAR, Bastian Dankert. He has taken the nature of Dumfries’ challenge, leading with the studs as opposed to making an attempt to kick through the ball, as being reckless — which is why the Netherlands’ player was booked. And that’s the one area where a defender catching an attacker after a shot can be seen as a penalty — when it’s reckless or dangerous.”
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