HOLLAND fans were left fuming after having a goal ruled out in their clash with France.
The two sides played out a goalless draw in Leipzig on Friday night in their second match of Euro 2024.
Despite being a tight encounter, the Dutch thought they had taken the lead during the second half.
Xavi Simons’ strike was ruled out for offside by Anthony Taylor, though, before VAR agreed with the on-field decision.
The midfielder’s low strike from the edge of the box beat Mike Maignan in the France goal to find the bottom corner.
However, Denzel Dumfries was stood in an offside position to the goalkeeper’s left.
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Both Taylor, his assistant referee and the VAR officials agreed Dumfries was interfering with play due to his proximity to Maignan and disallowed the goal.
The decision was finalised after a lengthy VAR check, to the anger of supporters.
Reacting to the decision on social media, one fan wrote: “Typical that the first offside decision to take ages… comes when English referees are using the technology.”
Another added: “Didn’t even need to see them to know it’s an English VAR team.”
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A third supporter also commented: “Terrible decision by the English ref and English VAR, what a shock, not.”
Meanwhile, one more said: “Trust the English refs to take absolutely forever to make the wrong decision.”
Netherlands Euro 2024 guide
RONALD KOEMAN has overhauled Holland’s playing style after returning for a second stint in charge.
Captain Virgil van Dijk will be expected to be a stalwart in defence while Xavi Simons will be hoping for a breakout tournament. But they may miss injured Frenkie de Jong.
MANAGER: Ronald Koeman
Ex-Barcelona and Everton boss was the scourge of England as a player when he knocked Graham Taylor’s side out of World Cup qualifying in 1994.
STAR MAN: Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool star has won everything there is to win at club level and will be counted on to keep things tight at the back.
How Holland attack
The Netherlands will play with a typically Dutch patient possession-based build-up.
They will stagger their positions to play through the lines, but can be overly individualistic in the final third.
How Holland defend
The Dutch will play with a medium block, allowing the opposition to break the first line before engaging in the midfield area.
They can run into problems when they fail to protect the middle of the pitch.
Read the full Netherlands 2024 guide here, including predicted line-ups, odds and Wags
Taylor is one of two English referees at Euro 2024, with Michael Oliver also at the tournament.
Oliver has already taken charge of Spain’s win over Croatia and Ukraine’s victory against Slovakia, with Friday night’s match Taylor’s first assignment.
Mark Halsey on France vs Netherlands VAR
ENGLISH VAR officials . . . here we go again.
Stuart Attwell took far too long to make a call on Xavi Simons’ strike and he got it wrong by sticking with the on-field decision.
It was a ‘good’ goal because Denzel Dumfries should not have been adjudged offside.
Holland’s Dumfries did not affect the line of vision for France keeper Mike Maignan, who made no attempt to save a shot he could not have reached.
It means wing-back Dumfries was not involved in ‘active’ play.
The VAR decision-making had been so slick in Germany up until last night.
But with VAR Attwell, who should have sent English referee Anthony Taylor to the pitchside monitor, we had the slowest decision of Euro 2024 so far — which took just under three minutes.
Neither side was able to find an opener following Simons’ disallowed goal.
The draw also means both France and Netherlands are yet to book their place in the last 16.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
