Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand expressed his fury after two crucial VAR decisions went against his side as they were knocked out of Euro 2024 by Germany.
‘I must congratulate Germany but the game was decided by two VAR decisions. I have the picture on my phone here. It is offside by one centimetre,’ said Hjulmand.
‘And I am so tired of the ridiculous handball rule. We cannot make our defenders run with their hands behind their back. It’s frustrating. This is not how football is supposed to be,’ the Denmark manager added
‘I’m not against VAR but we have to be quicker and improve it. In my opinion, the decision should be as clear as the moon and not like we saw today.’
First, Joachim Andersen’s goal was ruled out as Thomas Delaney was flagged marginally offside by the semi-automated technology and moments later, Andersen was cruelly penalised for handball in the box, with Kai Havertz converting the resulting penalty to give Germany the lead.
And Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann admitted that he would have been annoyed if such a decision went against his side.
‘It was a wild game. I understand why Denmark are annoyed,’ he said. ‘The penalty decision is harsh but that’s the rule. He (Andersen) didn’t handle the ball intentionally. I would be annoyed too if it was the other way round but I’d have to accept it.’
But like Hjulmand, Nagelsmann insisted that he is a supporter of VAR.
‘Offside is a factual decision. I know it’s hard to accept for them as it’s only a few centimetres. I am a fan of VAR and it’s a good thing to have it in football,’ said Nagelsmann.
The round-of-16 clash in Dortmund was delayed for 25 minutes in the first half as referee Michael Oliver took the players off after thunder and lightning and Hjulmand insisted that it was the right decision, recalling a game in Denmark in 2009 where he was involved, in which Jonathan Richter lost part of his leg after he was hit by lightning.
‘I was involved in a match where the lightning hit one of our players, I saw my players reaction and it was the right thing to do to go off,’ said Hjulmand.
The players came out with the game still goalless but Jamal Musiala added to Havertz’s penalty to secure
Germany’s first win in a knockout game since 2016 and the hosts will play the winner of the tie between Spain and Georgia – which takes place on Sunday evening – in the first quarter-final next Friday
Asked for his preference, Nagelsmann refused to take the bait, saying: ‘I’ll watch the game on Sunday evening and see how it goes. It won’t be easy for either of them. But I can assure you that we will be focused and ready for whoever.