LEIPZIG, Germany (AP)— Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman believes his team’s goal was incorrectly disallowed in Friday’s 0-0 draw with France at the European Championship.
Xavi Simons thought he had scored in the 69th minute when he fired inside the right post off a rebound after France goalkeeper Mike Maignan stopped Memphis Depay’s shot.
The linesman raised his flag, and a lengthy VAR check revealed Denzel Dumfries, who was offside, preventing Maignan from saving Xavi’s effort.
“Dumfries is offside.” That is true. But he is not bothering the goalkeeper. And when that doesn’t happen, I consider it a legal goal,” Koeman remarked in the post-game press conference.
“And you require five minutes to check it because it is so difficult? “I don’t understand this,” he said. “In my opinion, once again, he’s not disturbing the goalkeeper.”
France’s Didier Deschamps agreed with Koeman that the VAR probe went too long, but he felt Dumfries was obviously obstructing the goalie.
“When I saw the images, I thought it was a no-brainer,” Deschamps admitted.
Their teams’ tie became the first goalless game at Euro 2024.
READ MORE………….
Kante sparkles again, but France loses shine without Mbappe’s magnetism.
Leipzig, Germany (AFP) N’Golo Kante was the surprising hero of the show in the absence of a disgruntled Kylian Mbappe, as France and the Netherlands drew 0-0 in Leipzig to advance to the Euro 2024 round of 16.
Kante, who was recalled from a two-year international exile, has rolled back the years in Germany, winning back-to-back man-of-the-match accolades to reestablish himself as the fulcrum of Didier Deschamps’ midfield.
Kante, a standout of France’s World Cup-winning team in 2018, appeared to have left Europe to join Saudi club Al-Ittihad a year earlier.
Injuries had marred the conclusion of his Chelsea career and lost him a berth in the World Cup two years ago.
Despite initial reservations, Deschamps’ decision to bring back the 33-year-old has been inspirational.
“N’Golo is still out there running,” Deschamps joked at his post-match press conference on Friday.
“But he doesn’t just run. He can also take the ball up the field, which is crucial to compliment our other midfield players and keep us unpredictable.”
Questions have been raised about how prominent European names enticed by the riches of the Saudi Pro League will perform when thrown back into the heat of an international event.
However, Kante has demonstrated that a less rigorous Saudi campaign may even be advantageous in comparison to players exhausted by gruelling seasons in Europe’s top five divisions.
“It’s important (to make a good impression), especially when you come back to the national team,” Kante added.
Mbappe missed.
As brilliant as his ball-winning abilities and endless energy have been against Austria and the Netherlands, the small midfielder’s status as France’s hero thus far tells its own tale.
The 2022 World Cup finalists have scored just one goal in their first two games, and that came from Austria defender Maximilian Wober.
Mbappe’s broken nose against Austria, which ruled him out on Friday, has not helped.
But more is anticipated from a forward line that includes Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Marcus Thuram, Ousmane Dembele, and Kingsley Coman.
Fortunately for France’s chances of becoming European champions for the third time, Mbappe appears to be able to return with the help of a mask.
The Dutch stalemate continued Deschamps’ alarming trend without their best player.
Over the last two years, France has lost all seven games in which Mbappe has not started.
“Obviously the team is on a different plane when Kylian is in it,” he said.
The France manager admitted his caution with the Real Madrid forward might have been different if it had been a knockout game.
The French have been here before under Deschamps and understand that poor group games are readily forgotten as long as they click in time for stiffer tests in the knockout rounds.
France has made three finals in their past four major championships.
The exception occurred at Euro 2020, when an out-of-sorts Mbappe failed to score and missed a critical penalty in a surprise last-16 loss to Switzerland.
This time, injury threatens to wreck his Euros, and France cannot afford for their masked captain to perform poorly when he returns.
Despite France’s abundance of skill, Mbappe retains the inspiration to compliment Kante’s perspiration, ensuring that they are the team to beat at Euro 2024.
Leave a Reply