"For me in this match, the referee was the Man of the Match" - Patrice Evra makes bold claim after England's Euro 2024 S/F win over Netherlands
Patrice Evra made an interesting claim following England's 2-1 win over Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final, supposedly hinting at referee Felix Zwayer's alleged wrong decisions during the game. Speaking on Sony Sports TV's Football Extraaa segment, Evra mocked the referee by calling him the Man of the Match of the clash.
“For me in this match, the referee was the Man of the Match," he said.
Evra's dig at the referee came after a penalty call in the 18th minute, when a foul by Denzel Dumfries led to an advantage for England. After Xavi Simons scored in the seventh minute to give the Dutch an early lead, Kane found himself in the right position in the Dutch penalty box.
However, when Kane took the shot that came from a deflection, his leg collided with an approaching Dumfries. Fans and pundits have been in raging debate about whether granting a penalty was the right call, as a VAR check confirmed the penalty for the Three Lions. Kane himself converted the kick and equalised.
Finally, all hopes gleamed for Netherlands as English substitute Ollie Watkins scored another goal in the 90th minute to give the English a 2-1 lead. They are set to face Spain in the Euro 2024 final on July 14 at Berlin.
Former England player Gary Neville calls penalty decision against Netherlands "a disgrace'
It appears that Patrice Evra is not the only one to believe that the referee made a mistake in England's favor during the Euro 2024 semi-final clash vs Netherlands.
Former English defender Gary Neville called the penalty a "disgrace" from a defender's point of view, speaking via ITV Football on TNT Sports.
“As a defender I think the penalty was an absolute disgrace," Neville said.
Apart from Neville and Evra, Netherlands defender Virgil Van Dijk also took digs at the referee after the match. However, Dumfries said that he takes full responsibility for the foul that costed the Dutch their 1-0 lead in the post-match press conference.