DORTMUND, Germany — Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand hit out at “ridiculous handball guidelines” and stated “this isn’t how soccer ought to be” after two VAR choices within the area of two minutes towards his workforce helped Euro 2024 hosts Germany seal a 2-0 spherical of 16 victory in Dortmund.
Premier League referee Michael Oliver dominated out a Joachim Andersen aim on 48 minutes following a VAR intervention that highlighted a marginal offside involving Denmark midfielder Thomas Delaney.
Two minutes later, Oliver awarded a penalty to Germany after VAR officers Stuart Attwell and David Coote urged him to overview an obvious handball by Andersen from David Raum’s cross. Kai Havertz scored from the spot to place Germany 1-0 forward and Jamal Musiala then accomplished the hosts win with a solo aim later within the second-half.
However an indignant Hjulmand questioned using VAR after the sport and stated that each choices went towards his workforce.
“It was determined by two VAR choices,” Hjulmand stated. “I’ve the picture right here [of the Delaney offside]. It was one centimetre. It does not make sense, this isn’t how we’re presupposed to be utilizing VAR.
“After which after a couple of minutes, it is a penalty [to Germany]. I’m so uninterested in the ridiculous handball guidelines. We should always not require defender to be enjoying with palms like this. He [Andersen] was operating usually, it is a regular scenario and he was hit with the ball from a metre away.
“I not often speak about these choices, however it was very decisive for this recreation. Being in entrance at 1-0 would have been crucial and adjusted every thing for our workforce.
“Good luck for Germany, however in my view, this isn’t how soccer ought to be.”
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted that he had no qualms with Hjulmand’s complaints, saying he would additionally make the identical argument had the choice gone towards his workforce.
“We had a penalty and I perceive Denmark have been aggravated by it,” Nagelsmann stated. “It is fairly harsh, he did not do it deliberately, however that is the rule. I’d have been upset if it had occurred the opposite means round, although.”
Regardless of the 2 essential choices going towards his workforce, Hjulmand stated he remained a supporter of using VAR.
“I at all times favored VAR,” he stated. “I feel know-how can do one thing good for the game, however in my view, when a call is nice it ought to be seen from the moon and never depend upon a couple of centimetres. It is presupposed to be clear and apparent.
“However when it is like this, it is a little bit questionable. It also needs to be faster. There must be a means to enhance it.
“We have been taught in seminars so many instances to clarify the handball rule and we now have requested what’s a pure motion?
“Once we are instructed, this isn’t a pure place for handball as a result of the participant has to have his arms out to run. Simply inform me what the rule is.”
UEFA issued a press release on its web site defending the handball choice and using know-how to detect the handball by Andersen.
“Throughout the match between Germany and Denmark, related ball know-how housed inside adidas’s Fussballliebe ball confirmed that Denmark defender Joachim Andersen touched the ball together with his hand contained in the penalty space,” UEFA stated.
“On this occasion, the sensor was in a position to document precisely the contact of the hand of the participant with the floor of the ball.
“The ‘heartbeat’ of the ball proven on broadcast is similar because the referee sees in the course of the on-field overview and discerns the purpose of contact precisely to five-hundredths of a second.”
Hjulmand, in the meantime, defended referee Oliver’s choice to take each groups off the pitch within the first-half on account of {an electrical} storm.
“I wasn’t frightened, however I used to be on the lookout for the gamers,” he stated. “I used to be concerned in a recreation in Denmark when the lightning hit certainly one of my gamers, so I understand how harmful it may be.
“The lightning was proper over the stadium, I noticed my gamers response and it was the proper factor to return off.”