Georgia’s Willy Sagnol says VAR should be ditched after Spain goal stands

Willy Sagnol said Álvaro Morata (right, in red) was offside for Rodri’s goal. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/AP

Willy Sagnol said it might be time to ditch VAR until it can be used properly after Spain scored an equaliser which he thought should have been ruled out for offside en route to knocking his Georgia side out of Euro 2024.

Georgia, ranked 74 in the world and playing at their first major tournament, took the lead after 18 minutes but a Rodri equaliser six minutes before half-time set Spain up for a 4-1 victory in Cologne, thanks to three second-half goals which see them progress to the quarter-finals.

Rodri admitted that it might have been different had Spain still trailed at the break and Sagnol insisted that they should have done because Álvaro Morata had been standing in an offside position in front of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili when the Manchester City midfielder scored.

The Georgia coach likened the play to the goal that the Netherlands had chalked off for offside against France because Denzel Dumfries was judged to have been interfering with play, and questioned why the same conclusion was not reached here. He also lamented the loss of the hugely impressive Otar Kiteishvili who had been on the floor, injured, when the goal was scored.

“It’s difficult to talk just about this offside position, but if you want to have my opinion, it is a clear offside,” Sagnol said. “If Dumfries was offside against France, this was 10-times offside today.

“VAR is fantastic but we don’t know how to use it probably. Decisions are always taken by, let’s say, the same kind of people; they sit there with 10 screens, they have to analyse everything, but from one match to the other they don’t give the same decisions. That is why the players don’t understand it any more, staff don’t know any more, coaches don’t. VAR is great but until we know how to use it properly maybe we have to wait until we use it again.

“When we scored we felt that we could have a chance, because we had felt we had a chance before [the game],” Sagnol said. “If at half-time we had maybe still led 1-0 we might have had a bit more energy in the second half. And then we had an injury to a very important player. We lost a lot in that 20 seconds. In the larger spectrum, Spain deserved a win, there is no discussion on that.

“We are so happy and proud of what we have done the last days, the last weeks. Sometimes you have to step back and take a look at what you have done. We can sit in peace and quiet and everyone and be very happy of the last year because the development of the team and squad has been fantastic. I am very proud of that,” he added.

“It is the end of a journey but I am sure that the next one will also be very exciting. I am not saying we are disappointed but we feel a bit sad because we lost but in some days we will realise exactly what we have done and I think happiness will come back very quickly. For the fans to be able to come here, to see the national team; everything has been a great experience and tomorrow morning everyone will want only one thing, which is to come back.”