Experts - about the second semi-final of Euro: Denmark suffered, but the penalty was "shill"

The England national football team reached the European Championship final for the first time in history, beating Denmark 2-1 in overtime. In the final, which will be held in London on July 11, the national teams of Italy and England will meet.

The semifinal match between the national teams of England and Denmark in London ended dramatically. If in the first half there was a more or less equal game with a small advantage of the Danes, then in the second the Scandinavians gave up noticeably, and the British almost continuously besieged their goal. It is not known how the game would have ended, if Denmark had endured the penalty shootout, if it had not been for a rather controversial episode, with the fall in the penalty area of one of the best players of this Euro, Raheem Sterling. As a result, the penalty kick, which was struck by the British forward Harry Kane, was repulsed by the excellent Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, but Kane still sent the ball into the net with a second shot.

Many experts are sure that the Danes did not break the rules. So the famous former coach of London Arsenal Arsene Wenger writes in his blog:

“This is not a penalty. I don't know why the assistants at VAR didn't ask the judge to look at the monitor. At such a moment, it is important that the referee is fully confident in the decision that this is a penalty. It's not a penalty for me. I think the VAR team let the judge down".

Danish coach Kasper Juhlmann is also upset with this referee's decision:

“I just don't see the penalty there. It's hard. It’s one thing to just lose a fight, but when it’s like that it’s very annoying. Sorry guys, it's very bitter to fly out like this. Of course, we are very upset, because we were so close to the final, but various circumstances during the match prevented us from taking the last step. The guys did an amazing job. They are amazingly strong. They play amazing football. We attacked, scored goals and showed our true power. The players did their best, both on and off the pitch..."

His colleague, England head coach Gareth Southgate commented on the victory of his team:

“We should enjoy being in the finals, but there is another major hurdle to overcome.

Italy is a very good team. I've been thinking about this for the last couple of years. They are in great shape and they have defenders who have been through everything. It will be a great game to look forward to ... "

And yet, the outcome of this fight left an unpleasant aftertaste in the hearts of true football fans. This is what the columnist Igor Rabiner writes about in his column:

“For this Euro, we somehow imperceptibly lost the habit that the outcome of matches is decided by the referees. The excellent work of the referees in general, plus the VAR, for a long time gave the effect that each of us dreamed of all the years of our worship of football - the effect of the impossibility of deception.

But, alas, he could not hold out for the entire championship. And, by a strange coincidence, it happened in the interests of the team that will host the final. And now many are asking the question: how many pounds per Sterling? Everyone took it so painfully for a clear reason - the Danish national team for this tournament fell in love with Europe. It was a drama, almost a tragedy, which grew into a fairy tale. And looped around with a new drama.

Now the world inclines two people in all ways - the professional simulator Raheem Sterling and the Dutch judge Danny McKeley, who appointed this penalty. Even English commentators admit that the 11-meter is fake.

And the British seem to have deserved this victory, and in general "football is returning home." But something doesn't work out to be happy about it. The smell gets in the way, and you can't get away from it - everyone except the British, who don't care now. Except for the most conscientious ones, who, as always, are a clear minority ... "

However, journalist Kirill Shulika believes that in spite of everything, the result of the semi-final is fair:

“How poorly England plays. There are tons of creative players out there though. But they play by the count. They pressed Denmark at 1: 1, earned a penalty that could not have been given, scored... And then the British began to stupidly keep the score. Probably all the fans in the world hated them at this time. All fans in the world sympathized with Denmark. With one exception - England fans. They were happy, they sang and the national team played for them.

And for them it went down in history! For the first time the England national team reached the EURO final! This has never happened before! And now the national team has a chance to win at least something for the first time since 1966.

As for the penalty, it is either there or not. It doesn't matter what time of the match. There are undeniable penalties when 100 out of 100 say it was. And there are those that are at the discretion of the judges. The foul against Sterling was just that. You can give, you can not give. The judges gave, this is not a mistake, but a completely deliberate decision of the Dutchman Makkeli and the video assistants, who saw everything the same as you and me.

In the end, everything in football has to be fair. Denmark won EURO, even Greece won, but the ancestors of football are not. Now they have a unique chance, which is unknown when it will be again..."