While England rejoice in reaching their first major final since 1966;

Anger grew abroad over her awarding an extra-time penalty after Raheem Sterling was fouled, as she beat Denmark 2-1 in the Euro 2020 semi-final.

The penalty kick was condemned by many media and football personalities as "too cheap", and others said England's arrogant views on players claiming the fall seemed hypocritical given Sterling's fall from the slightest touch, they said.

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Might just be 2 penalties.

pic.twitter.com/2mfMxbVgtZ

— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) July 8, 2021

And the Spanish newspaper “MARCA” said that they “always talk about the misconduct of a foreign player when he tries to deceive the referee by claiming to fall, but in pure English football this does not happen, far from being a match before the European Championship final.”

"It would be nice if English football stopped giving lessons to the rest of the continent about pretending to be down," she added.

The quick and evasive Sterling - who has faced previous accusations of falling or "diving" in the English Premier League - penetrated the penalty area before a challenge, some see, as not strong with the Danes Mathias Janssen and Joachim Mihli.

Dutch referee Danny Makele awarded a penalty and confirmed the decision after a short consultation with the video assistant referee (VAR), but he did not review the shot via the small screen on the field.

Harry Kane's kick was initially saved by Kasper Schmeichel, but the ball rebounded to the England captain;

To hit the net and give the win to the hosts.

very cheap

"It was a light touch for me, a very cheap penalty before the European Championship final," former referee Jonas Ericsson, who officiated at the 2012 and 2016 European Championships, told Swedish network SVT.

"I'm really surprised and upset that the video referee didn't tell the referee anything. This decided the qualified team," he added.

Sterling said it was a clear penalty after being fouled, but former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger - now FIFA's development director - was among the skeptics.

He told beIN Sports, "At a moment like this it is important for the referee to be completely convinced that it was a penalty. It was not clear enough to count it, and he should have looked at the screen at least."

Roma coach Jose Mourinho went even further and told Toksport radio "for me it's not a penalty at all", although he thinks the best team won, and said he's happy for England.

Denmark may have felt more unfair to the presence of a second ball on the field when Sterling entered the penalty area, and some believe that this calls for stopping play according to the rules, but the truth is that the football law stipulates not to stop in promising attacks as long as the other ball did not affect the play with its removal in the first stop To play or drop the ball if the referee stops play after the attack ends.

Those saying it wasn't a Pen, watch that contact on Sterling's left leg.

That's a foul.... a Penalty.

pic.twitter.com/joS2WCD0vG

— Seddume 🐄 (@Quarterbackface) July 7, 2021

To make matters worse, an encouraging laser beam was fired at Schmeichel as he prepared for Kane's penalty kick.

"England won a penalty with a blatant claim," said Dietmar Hamann, a former Germany player and current analyst. "England has always prided itself on being the cradle of fair play and no cheating."

The French newspaper L'equipe reported that England broke through the Danish defense with a "doubtful" penalty, while the newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport" in Italy - which will face England in the final next Sunday - said - "It's a shame they get some help because they don't need it."

"She's diving home," Italian journalist Tancredi Palmieri wrote on Twitter, mocking the England football fan's anthem, "She's Going Home."

sterling defense

Sterling defended the penalty, saying, "I went into the penalty area, he put his right foot and touched my leg, so it was a penalty."

Not sure how anyone can argue this isn't a penalty.

Two definite contacts when running at high speed, how can @sterling7 not stumble?

pic.twitter.com/XkVtkM9SQ0

— Dakeb (@Dakeb_MCFC) July 8, 2021

But there are many voices that supported the opinion of the referee and the fugitive in the presence of a violation, including the Al-Jazeera Net analyst, who said that the penalty was correct for several reasons;

Including that Stirling was the one who played the ball and none of the two defenders touched it while trying to pass between them, and there is a collision with the right leg of Jansen - who did not even try to cut the ball and focused on disrupting his opponent - above Sterling's thigh, which is classified as a negligent obstruction as stipulated in Article 12 (Errors and Misconduct) of the Football Law.

This collision caused Sterling to fall because he was running with the ball, his upper body tilted forward - this is a normal position - and in motion;

Which makes him less able to balance, and in this case the foul is counted even if the English player exaggerated the fall to get a penalty kick as a result of the tackle, which caused some to believe it was incorrect.

  • Former international referee