Germany vs Denmark. European Championships Round of 16.
Signal Iduna ParkAttendance61,612.
Report from Euro 2024 as thunderstorms contribute to a delayed last-16 encounter in Dortmund before Kai Havertz's second-half penalty and Jamal Musiala's third goal of the tournament secures quarter-final spot; Joachim Andersen had finish disallowed for offside with the game scoreless
Saturday 29 June 2024 23:12, UK
Germany reached their first quarter-finals in four attempts at a major tournament as goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala secured a 2-0 victory over Denmark in a storm-delayed and controversial encounter in Dortmund.
On the eve of Saturday's meeting at Signal Iduna Park, meteorologists had warned that inclement weather conditions in the Ruhr region could disrupt proceedings - and referee Michael Oliver was forced to suspend play for 20 minutes during the first half as a precaution.
By then, Germany had seen Nico Schlotterbeck's header ruled out after Andreas Skov Olsen was illegally blocked by Joshua Kimmich.
Rasmus Hojlund was guilty of missing two good chances late in the first half, but the game's big flashpoint centred on Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen in the space of two minutes.
First, the centre-back thought he had scored the first goal for his country when he swivelled and found the bottom corner but Thomas Delaney was deemed to have been fractionally offside in the build-up.
As Germany celebrated their reprieve, VAR Stuart Attwell spotted a handball from Andersen moments later in blocking David Raum's cross. It seemed harsh given the proximity of Andersen to the cross, but Havertz stayed composed to beat Kasper Schmeichel from 12 yards.
There was nothing controversial about Germany's second, however, which killed the contest as Schlotterbeck picked out the run of Musiala, who breezed away from Andersen to fire across Schmeichel and set up a quarter-final against either Spain or Georgia.
There were three decisions which had to be made in the incident which saw Andersen think he had given Denmark the lead.
Firstly, the English match officials looked at whether there was an initial offside from Christian Eriksen's free-kick. That was ruled out.
During the second phase, it was checked whether there was a penalty offence on Thomas Delaney by Havertz, which was deemed not to be sufficient enough to be overturned.
Therefore, Delaney was standing in an offside position - by a toe - when he attacked the ball when it came off Rasmus Hojlund's shoulder. Semi-automated VAR replays showed just how tight the offside call was.
The Andersen handball incident fell within the current interpretation and application of the IFAB rules. Andersen's body is outside the silhouette, creating a barrier preventing the ball from being crossed.
Andersen's arm is outstretched, therefore it was recommended for it to be a penalty offence.
The Palace defender said afterwards: "It was the referee who decided the game for us. It's the smallest offside I have ever seen in my career, to be honest. But of course, offside is offside.
"And then to give a penalty in this situation is for me is a crazy decision. Now, I've been playing in the Premier League for four years and the last two years, the referees before every season they come and explain all the rules.
"And this...they spoke about many times: the handball rule. And this is never a penalty. This is half a metre beside me and kicks the ball on my hand. What do you want me to do? That...they said that it'll be black or white. That will never be a penalty. And now an English ref gives this as a penalty. So, for me it's a crazy decision."
Roy Keane speaking on ITV:
"I'm always critical of defenders who put their hands behind their back, as their balance can't be right. But you feel for defenders now. I can't see that as a penalty.
"Does every defender now have to put their hands behind their back? You feel for Denmark. The spirit of the game - it's so unfair for that handball to go against them."
"During the match between Germany and Denmark, connected ball technology housed inside adidas's Fussballliebe ball showed that Denmark defender Joachim Andersen touched the ball with his hand inside the penalty area.
"In this instance, the sensor was able to record accurately the touch of the hand of the player with the surface of the ball.
"The 'heartbeat' of the ball shown on broadcast is the same as the referee sees during the on-field review and discerns the point of contact accurately to five-hundredths of a second."
Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand: "The game was decided by two VAR decisions. I have the photo here, it was one centimetre (offside). In terms of statistics and data, it doesn't make sense. This is not the way we are supposed to be using VAR.
"It's one centimetre. And after two minutes there was a penalty. I am so tired of the ridiculous handball rule. We cannot demand our defenders to be running with the arms like this (behind their backs). It's not natural. Joachim (Andersen) was running normally. It's a normal situation.
"He jumped up and was hit from one metre. I rarely talk about these decisions, but it was really decisive for this game."
From the sublime to the ridiculous. This was a trademark performance from the Arsenal forward, the sort that makes him so entertaining. He ought to have scored from six yards out in the first half when he headed Raum's delivery straight at Schmeichel.
In the second, a brilliant piece of skill evaded Jannik Vestergaard only for the finish to again be lacking. But Havertz gets through so much work and his efforts were rewarded from the spot.
On what was his 50th cap for Germany, Havertz netted his 18th goal for the national team, with only Niclas Füllkrug (7) netting more goals since the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann than his six.
Only Jürgen Klinsmann and Mario Gomez (both 5) have scored more goals for Germany at the UEFA European Championship finals than Havertz (4), while he's netted five goals in his last 10 games for the national team.
