Former national player Toni Kroos reacted with amusement, but also with incomprehension, to reports that UEFA had admitted a major refereeing error in Germany’s European Championship quarter-final against Spain. With regard to the unpunished handball by Spaniard Marc Cucurella, the 34-year-old said at the Icon League, an indoor soccer league he co-founded: “It took them three months to realize that it was handball – which actually everyone, almost everyone, did in the second. That reassures me immensely.”
In this case, “a penalty should have been awarded,” says a report by the UEFA Referees Committee, quoted by the Spanish portal “Relevo,” about the much-discussed scene. The English referee Anthony Taylor allowed the game to continue in extra time with the score at 1:1 and did not award a handball penalty. The video assistant did not intervene either. Germany lost 1:2 after extra time.
“Can I call myself European champion now? Even after the fact, because they have now officially confirmed it,” asked Kroos and immediately gave the answer himself. “I don’t think so. I don’t think it works like that.” The six-time Champions League winner ended his professional career after the match.
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