Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman insisted Xavi Simons’ disallowed goal should have stood as his side played out their first goalless draw of Euro 2024 against France in Leipzig.
Top scorer Simons, Dutch team-mates celebrating with him and a delirious Dutch crowd behind the goal were all convinced the 21-year-old had given Koeman’s side the advantage when he struck the bottom corner in the second half.
But the on-field referees, led by English referee Anthony Taylor, disallowed the goal because Dutch full-back Denzel Dumfries was in an offside position and was deemed offside by French goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
There was a long check by the video assistant referee while fans inside the stadium, without the luxury of being able to see the replay, whistled in frustration until it was announced that the on-field decision would stand.
“I think Dumfries’ position is offside, that’s true,” Koeman said. “But he’s not bothering the goalkeeper and when that doesn’t happen, it’s a cool goal, in my opinion.”
It was undoubtedly the first major point of discussion surrounding the use of VAR in the tournament, especially with regard to the time needed to reach a decision.
“Do you need five minutes to check, because it’s too difficult?” Koeman added. “I don’t understand that. He’s not bothering the goalkeeper.”
France coach Didier Deschamps was, perhaps unsurprisingly, of the opinion that the correct decision had been made.
“I was a little surprised at how long it took,” he said. “Because for me, when I saw the image on the screen, it was obvious.”
‘France is very lucky’
The former English forwards, in BBC television coverage, agreed with the Dutch coach that the goal should have been kept.
“France were very lucky here,” said Alan Shearer. “When you see the angle behind the goal, the goalkeeper can’t dive for that with the body position he was in.
“He’s not getting to the ball and Dumfries isn’t affecting him at all. I just don’t think he’s getting there.”
Gary Lineker added: “You have to decide whether the goalkeeper is offside and he clearly isn’t. He’s so far away from Dumfries, if he dived he could almost reach him.”
Wayne Rooney, along with former Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, suggested that referee Taylor should have gone and had a look at the pitchside monitor.
“He really makes a little effort to get the ball,” Rooney said. “There is no way this can be disallowed, I think it is a goal and it was frustrating for how long it took.
“If you go to the monitor, at least the referee can make a decision and it’s his own opinion.”
However, former Dutch defender Mario Melchiot – after joking that he didn’t like VAR – admitted that Dumfries was impacting Maignan’s ability to save the ball.
“I think normally when someone is in that position, do you think they’re in line for the ball? No. But the position they were in could put the goalkeeper away,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“If this goal had been scored against us, I would have said the same thing.”
Despite disagreeing with the decision, Koeman – who said he spoke to Taylor in the dressing room afterwards – said he could accept the result and was pleased with a draw that leaves the Netherlands with four points after two games and in a strong position to reach the last 16 .
“France had better opportunities, but not many more,” he added.
“Personally, I thought the objective should have been maintained, so my conclusion is that it is a fair result – I can accept that.
“There were moments during the game when we weren’t up to the task and that was probably due to the fact that we were up against a great opponent.”
In fact, France had 14 shots without scoring, the most in a major tournament game without scoring since the Euro 2016 final against Portugal, when they had 18.
The Netherlands face Austria in the final Group D game on Tuesday at 5pm BST, at the same time as France face already-eliminated Poland.
