Football

Kroos ridiculed UEFA's decision regarding Cucurella's handball in the match between Germany and Spain in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals

Former Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has weighed in on UEFA's decision regarding the handball incident that occurred during the Euro 2024 quarter-final match between Germany and Spain.

The UEFA Referees Committee concluded that the referee made an erroneous decision not to award a penalty in the 106th minute of the match, which ended 2-1 in favour of Spain. The incident occurred after Germany midfielder Jamal Musiala's shot struck the hand of Spanish defender Marc Cucurella in the penalty area. The match referee, Anthony Taylor, chose not to award a penalty.

«It took them three months to realise it was handball, which almost everyone actually managed to see in a second. That calms me down a lot [laughs]. Can I now call myself European champion because they've officially confirmed it? I don't think so»  told Kroos iMiaSanMia (X).

According to UEFA's latest recommendations, any handball contact that prevents a shot on target should be punished more severely. In most cases, a penalty should be awarded in such situations, except when the defender's hand is very close to the ball.

In this particular episode, the defender's hand stopped the shot, and it was not positioned close to his body, which made it larger. This suggests that a penalty should indeed have been given.