DORTMUND, Germany — Denmark Coach Kasper Hjulmand criticised the “ridiculous handball rule” and said “football is not like that” after two VAR decisions in the space of two minutes before his side helped the Euro 2024 hosts Germany sealed a 2-0 win in the round of 16 at Dortmund.
Premier League Referee Michael Oliver ruled it out Joachim Andersen goal in the 48th minute after a VAR intervention, which highlighted a minor offside involving the Danish midfielder Thomas Delaney.
Two minutes later, Oliver awarded the penalty to Germany after VAR officials Stuart Attwell and David Coote asked him to review Andersen’s apparent handball from David Raum’s pass. Kai Havertz scored from the penalty spot to give Germany a 1-0 lead, and Jamal Musiala then added the home team’s second goal late in the half.
But Hjulmand angrily questioned the use of VAR after the match, noting that both decisions went against his team.
“It was decided by two VAR decisions,” Hjulmand said. “I have the photo here [of the Delaney offside]. That’s one centimeter. That’s absurd, this is not how we use VAR.
“And after a few minutes, it was a penalty [to Germany]. I’m so tired of these ridiculous handball rules. We shouldn’t ask defenders to play with their hands like this. He [Andersen] was running normally, it was a normal situation and he was hit by the ball from a distance of one meter.
“I rarely talk about these decisions, but it was very decisive for this match. A 1-0 lead would be huge and change everything for our team.
“Good luck to Germany, but in my opinion, football should not happen like that.”
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted that he did not mind Hjulmand’s complaints, while saying he would have made the same argument if the decision did not go in his team’s favour.
“We were awarded a penalty and I understand Denmark felt upset about that,” Nagelsmann said. “That’s pretty harsh, he didn’t mean to do it, but that’s the rule. However, I would be very upset if it happened the other way around.”
Despite two key decisions that disadvantage his team, Hjulmand said he still supports the use of VAR.
“I always liked VAR,” he said. “I think technology can bring something good to sports, but in my opinion, when a decision is right, it should be seen from the moon and not depend on a few centimeters. It must be clear and obvious.
“But when it’s like this, it’s a bit suspicious. It should also be faster. There must be some way to improve it.
“We’ve had many seminars explaining the rules of handball and we’ve asked what is natural movement?
“When we were told, it’s not a natural position to play the ball with your hands because the player has to extend his arms to run. Just tell me what the rules are.”
UEFA issued a statement on its website defending the handball decision and the use of technology to detect Andersen’s handball.
UEFA said: “During the match between Germany and Denmark, the Adidas Fussballliebe ball technology inside the ball showed that Denmark defender Joachim Andersen touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area.”
“In this case, the sensor can accurately record the player’s hand contact with the ball surface.
“The ‘heartbeat’ of the ball is displayed on television in the same way as the referee sees it when reviewing on the pitch, and distinguishes the point of contact to within five-hundredths of a second.”
Meanwhile, Hjulmand defended referee Oliver’s decision. took both teams off the field in the first half due to electrical storm.
“I’m not scared, but I’m looking out for the players,” he said. “I was at a game in Denmark when lightning struck one of my players so I know how dangerous it is.
“Lightning struck in the stadium, I saw the reaction of the players and it was the right thing to do.”
