EURO 2024 REFEREE DEBACLE: KROOS UNLEASHES ON UEFA DECISION
Toni Kroos has finally broken his silence on the UEFA referee blunder that marred Germany’s Euro 2024 campaign, and his reaction is fiery and frustration-filled.
For months, the world has known about the handball that stopped a certain winner in Germany’s quarterfinal shootout with Spain. The issue boiled over on Monday, with UEFA finally releasing an admission that the mistake occurred – and it could’ve altered the entire tournament’s narrative.
Germany were 1-1 with Spain and on the verge of booking a spot in the last four when Marc Cucurella, with outstretched arm, handled the ball in the Spanish box. Not one – not one! – major referee’s eye (pun intended) could spot that blatant foul, yet now UEFA has formally stated, "Following the latest UEFA guidelines, hand-to-ball contact that stops a shot on goal should be punished more strictly, and in most cases, a penalty kick should be awarded…"
Kroos, then, is well within his rights to unleash. According to German publication RealTotal, he made it clear while commentating for Icon League that his response to the belated call is simple: "I don’t think I can call myself a European champion because they’ve officially confirmed it?"
Here, 90min analyzes just how monumental that oversight proved. Had a penalty been awarded, Jamal Musiala’s subsequent attempt wouldn’t have been halted; Germany could’ve then moved on to face… you guessed it – anyone aside from the hosts in a semifinal setting! Even if Spain recovered and triumphed in a second knockout round tie, at this point, that late heartbreak wouldn’t matter a jot. Not just then, but come final whistles in August and our hypothetical scenario?
Meanwhile, Kroos might chuckle at the revelation it’s taken three months to validate what seemed a textbook refereeing faux pas during an instant. Laughs alone won’t mask this existential crisis. Not merely can we discuss that error altering the Euro 2024 narrative, as Kroos himself does: one team’s chance of clinching the championship effectively died amid the Cucurella handball saga. All because a decision like, well, all, other major refereeing contests for the duration!
No European Championship triumph on their return to their host continent now. For Spain and Gerard Moreno, however, UEFA’s statement underscores – almost cruelly, now? A ‘what-if’ will forever accompany Euro 2024.
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Additional Tags: Spain, UEFA, EURO 2024, Cucurella Handball Incident, Kroos Blazes UEFA Over Fumbled Chance