It was the bitterest scene of our home European Championship: the unpunished handball by Marc Cucurella (26) in the quarter-final between Germany and Spain (1:2 nV).
After 90 minutes the score was 1-1 and the game went into extra time. In the 106th minute, the controversial scene: The Spaniard received a shot from Jamal Musiala (21) on his hand, which was spread away from his body. Referee Anthony Taylor didn’t give the penalty and Germany were eliminated.
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In an interview with the Italian sports newspaper “Gazzetta dello Sport”, the Spain star was asked about the crucial moment in extra time when he received the ball.
And Cucurella admitted it was a shock for him: “Mamma mia, what a shock. I peed my pants. Looked at the ref and saw him firmly say: ‘No penalty!'”
Cucurella continued: “I told myself, ‘Relax,’ but I couldn’t until the game resumed.”
Three months after the game, the Uefa referee commission admitted in September that there had been a mistake and that there should have been a penalty for national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s (37) team.
Cucurella said: “And now they come and say it was a penalty: who benefits from that?” The real problem is that there is incredible confusion about the rule on a handball, said the Chelsea defender.
But where did the late admission come from? The Referees Commission regularly analyzes European matches to unify criteria so that referees can make the same decisions in similar matches. The scene was only included in the most recent analysis.
July 14, 2024: Marc Cucurella (M.) celebrates the European title with Fermin Lopez and David Raya
Photo: INA FASSBENDER/AFP
At that time, the video assistant did not intervene either. For most of the football world, the scene was a clear penalty. This also applies to BILD referee Torsten Kinhöfer, the former referee and ZDF expert Manuel Gräfe and the international media.
Instead, Mikel Merino shot the Spaniards into the semi-finals in the last minute (119th minute). In the end, Furia Roja even won the European Championship title, winning 2-1 against England in the final. And Cucurella was able to celebrate the biggest title of his career…
video-heading">Fans worldwide are freaking outTHIS cup is not what it looks like…
Source: BILD/Instagram10/11/2024
