Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman on Friday said that his team had a goal wrongly ruled out in their 0-0 draw with France in Group D at the UEFA Euro 2024.
Xavi Simons thought he had scored in the 69th minute when he fired inside the right post from a rebound after France goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved Memphis Depay’s effort.
The linesman raised his flag and a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) check found that Denzel Dumfries, who was offside, obstructed Maignan from attempting to save Xavi’s shot.
Photo: Reuters
“Dumfries is offside, that’s true, but he isn’t disturbing the goalkeeper,” Koeman said at the post-game news conference. “And when that is not happening, then it’s a legal goal in my opinion.”
“And you need five minutes to check it because it’s so difficult? I don’t understand this,” he added. “In my opinion, once again, he’s not disturbing the goalkeeper.”
France manager Didier Deschamps agreed with Koeman about the VAR check taking too long, but he felt Dumfries was clearly obstructing the goalkeeper.
“When I saw the images, I thought it was a no-brainer,” Deschamps said.
Their teams’ draw was the first goalless game at the tournament. It left the Netherlands on top of the group on 4 points due to a better goal-scoring record than France — who also moved to 4 points.
In another Group D game, Austria beat Poland 3-1. Austria are third in the group on 3 points, with all four teams having played two games, while Poland have had two losses.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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