Home Football Thanks to VAR’s help, the controversy over Havertz’s illegal penalty kick for the German national team caused UEFA to speak up

Thanks to VAR’s help, the controversy over Havertz’s illegal penalty kick for the German national team caused UEFA to speak up

Football — 06/30/2024

Kai Havertz’s penalty against Denmark

Germany qualified for the quarter-finals of EURO 2024 after a 2-0 win over Denmark, but the match was marred by controversy, with the most notable being a penalty in the 52nd minute after centre-back Joachim Andersen handled the ball.

 

Kai Havertz was judged to have mistakenly taken the penalty that opened the scoring in the match.

Kai Havertz was the one who successfully converted the penalty to give Germany the opening goal. However, the Arsenal striker appeared to have stopped completely while running up before taking the shot past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. UEFA rules state that penalty takers must not stop or fake a shot at the end of their run-up, but must shoot immediately.

 

 

Danish fans expressed frustration that UEFA lacked clear rules to prevent players from “bending the rules” when taking penalties, putting goalkeepers at a disadvantage. Fans also pointed to a similar example when striker Robert Lewandowski took a penalty in Poland’s 1-1 draw with France in the group stage.

Not to mention the penalty award for the German team was considered too harsh when the camera did not clearly capture the situation where Joachim Andersen let the ball touch his hand. Explaining this, UEFA had an article on its homepage, stating that the sensor technology placed in the Fussballliebe ball clearly showed that Andersen used his hand to play the ball in the penalty area.

 

 

Referee Michael Oliver is being criticised by many Danish fans, but German fans are not letting him off the hook either. Centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck headed into the Danish net in the fourth minute from a Toni Kroos corner, but referee Oliver ruled out the goal after Joshua Kimmich made an illegal tackle on Alexander Skov Olsen, who was trying to mark Schlotterbeck.

 

Schlotterbeck headed home in the fourth minute but was denied a goal by Joshua Kimmich for a tackle on Alexander Skov Olsen.

 

German public opinion also expressed disappointment with the English referees at this year’s EURO. Previously, in the 0-0 draw between the Netherlands and France in the group stage, referee Anthony Taylor did not recognize a goal by Xavi Simons (Netherlands) when this player rushed in to shoot.

 

In this incident, the referee team judged that Denzel Dumfries (who was considered to be offside) had obstructed goalkeeper Mike Maignan in Xavi Simons’ shot. Mr. Anthony Taylor spent a long time checking the error with VAR referee Stuart Attwell before deciding to cancel the goal.

 

 

DORTMUND, GERMANY – JUNE 29: Kai Havertz of Germany shot goes wide during the UEFA EURO 2024 round of 16 match between Germany and Denmark at Football Stadium Dortmund on June 29, 2024 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

 

 

DORTMUND, GERMANY – JUNE 29: Kai Havertz of Germany scores his team’s first goal from a penalty kick during the UEFA EURO 2024 round of 16 match between Germany and Denmark at Football Stadium Dortmund on June 29, 2024 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

 

In the Germany-Denmark match, there were quite a few disappointing refereeing decisions for both teams. In addition to Schlotterbeck’s disallowed goal, Joachim Andersen’s shot into the German net early in the second half was disallowed for offside, right before Andersen made a mistake that led to the opening penalty. At the end of the match, the referee also disallowed another goal from Germany’s Florian Wirtz.

This was a match where Germany, despite dominating, almost conceded a goal a couple of times, but Havertz’s penalty changed the game and Jamal Musiala then sealed the 2-0 win for the home team. This win sent Germany into the quarter-finals and they will meet the winner of the Spain – Georgia match (2am, 1/7).