Denzel Dumfries was not surprised to see a penalty given against him during England’s win over Netherlands in Wednesday’s Euro 2024 semi-final, although was left frustrated by the ‘really annoying’ decision.
The Three Lions are into Sunday’s final against Spain after a 2-1 win over the Dutch in Dortmund, but it was not without controversy.
Xavi Simons gave Netherlands an early lead but it didn’t last long as Harry Kane won and then converted a penalty just a few minutes later.
The Bayern Munich striker produced a shot on the volley inside the penalty box which Dumfries tried to block, but Kane got their first and after getting his shot off, his boot swung into the defender’s studs.
The referee initially gave nothing but after a VAR intervention pointed to the spot, with Kane scoring, levelling the match and allowing Ollie Watkins’ 90th minute goal to be the winner.
Dumfries was reminded of giving away a penalty in Netherlands’ World Cup defeat to Argentina in the quarter-finals in Qatar, admitted his defending may not have been ‘smart’ but was annoyed by the decision.
‘The match against Argentina went through my mind at the time,’ said Dumfries, via Trouw. ‘I touched Kane on the side. I am someone who always goes for the defensive block 100 percent.
‘You can ask yourself whether what I did was smart. On the other hand, it is not easy, because you are always “in the action”. That means that you can make mistakes, that is part of football. This is really annoying.
‘The ball just fell between us. I wanted to block the shot, so I just touched him. At that moment you know he can give it. That’s really annoying, you don’t do it on purpose. But you have to keep going.
‘It’s a bitter defeat of course. We really got stronger and then it’s bitter that they still scored so late. We felt the support of our fans, today in Dortmund and the other host cities. They were here in such large numbers. You felt that atmosphere throughout the country, it felt like unity. It was a tough day for us, but we were one. A compliment to the Netherlands.’
Former England defender Gary Neville labelled the penalty decision a ‘disgrace’ and could not believe it was overturned by VAR.
‘Look, as a defender, I think it’s an absolute disgrace. It’s an absolute disgraceful decision, that,’ Neville said on ITV. ‘To have that given against me as a penalty, at any time, but in a game of such importance…
‘I have to say, he just goes in to try and block the shot. It’s not a penalty, for me. It’s nowhere near a penalty and I have say, I don’t think there weren’t many England players claiming for it either.
‘Harry stayed down, he got a little bit of a tap on his foot, but it’s never a penalty for me.’