How different could things have been for Denmark vs. Germany if Thomas Delaney’s boot was half a size smaller?
How different could things have been for Denmark vs. Germany if Thomas Delaney’s boot was half a size smaller?
And you might have thought Bayern Munich had a beef with officials over offside calls over the years...
Standing at 0-0, Germany and Denmark were battling hard in the 48th minute of their EURO 2024 Round of 16 showdown.
Sure, Germany had dominated the match, but Denmark was feisty and opportunistic.
Then it happened.
The moment struck and Joachim Andersen emerged from a scrum and hit a left-footed shot that Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer could do nothing about.
Just like that, it was 1-0 Denmark and the German crowd in Westfalonstadion took a swift punch to the gut.
Until...the 50th minute when Thomas Delaney, who attempted his own shot before the ball caromed to Andersen, was deemed to have been offside. For those of you not geo-blocked, here is how things looked in real time:
For a closer look at Delaney’s offside position, check this out:
Obviously, Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand was irate about the situation and vented about this call and the subsequent handball, which led to a penalty shot for Kai Havertz, who have Germany a 1-0 lead.
“It was decided by two VAR decisions,” Hjulmand said (as captured by ESPN). “I have the photo here [of the Delaney offside]. It was one centimeter. It doesn’t make sense, this is not how we are supposed to be using VAR.
“And then after a few minutes, it’s a penalty [to Germany]. I am so tired of the ridiculous handball rules. We should not require defender to be playing with hands like this. He [Andersen] was running normally, it’s a normal situation and he was hit with the ball from a meter away.
“I rarely talk about these decisions, but it was very decisive for this game. Being in front at 1-0 would have been very important and changed everything for our team. Good luck for Germany, but in my opinion, this is not how football should be.”
While getting the call correct is of the utmost importance, it almost seems as if technology might be a little too advanced in this case. For Denmark, it is easy to see why the coach and his team were so upset.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Germany’s 2-0 victory over Denmark? Good, then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where we cover the starting lineup selection, a rundown of the scoring and substitutions, and takes on how it all played out. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: