Airman Sterling in action! A look at the situation that sent England to the Euro finals

The Czech national team’s conqueror, Denmark, was cast as a total underdog before the semi-final duel with England. Although the Danes were the worse team for most of the match, they still gave the favoured English team problems for a long time. Their hopes were finally dashed only by the harsh verdict of the referee.

The regulation time ended 1:1 and it looked like the first act of extra time would end in a draw. But one minute before the last fifteen minutes a huge failure came. Is this a penalty?

Flyer Raheem Sterling went down without much input from his opponent and Dutch referee Danny Makkelie had no hesitation in awarding a penalty kick. An even bigger question mark is the actions of VAR, which did not call for him to recheck the situation.

The situation that preceded Sterling’s cross into the Denmark penalty area is even more baffling. In fact, there were two balls on the pitch and they were even quite close to the whole game situation! Yet the referee did not stop the game.

The ensuing injustice and unfairness still continued. Captain Harry Kane took the penalty. Meanwhile, Albion fans allegedly shone a laser in the face of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Schmeichel still managed to defuse the penalty, but unfortunately he didn’t knock it sideways, only in front of him. Kane finished his failed attempt. The tired Danes could not put up any more resistance after this cruel situation and England secured their place in the final.

Football public reaction

The football public is unanimously agreed that it was definitely not a penalty. The non-judgemental English celebrate anyway and defend themselves by saying that they were better anyway.

It is therefore to be expected that almost the entire football world will be on Italy’s side in the final, facing a packed Wembley.

Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said on English television. I don’t understand why VAR didn’t call for him to go and look at the screen. At this moment (of the match) he must be absolutely sure.”

Similar reactions have overwhelmed Twitter outside England, where there were celebrations about the hundred and six. Anyway, despite Sterling’s theatrical fall, it has to be admitted that the Manchester City winger gave an otherwise very interesting performance. He scored 10 successful dribbles against the Danes, a record for the entire Euro.

Man of the match Harry Kane?

Interestingly, UEFA chose Harry Kane as the star of the match. The burly striker may have decided England’s progress, thanks to an important through pass and penalty finish, but someone else deserved the award nonetheless.

The prestigious website WhoScored has named goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as Man of the Match. He received a rating of 9.06 for 9 successful saves (including a penalty), the most of any Danish goalkeeper in the history of the European Championships.

Sources: OGCOM, SPORTbible, Ondrej Novacek, Troll Football, WhoScored, Squawka Football