Raheem Sterling won a controversial penalty in extra-time against Denmark, with many commentators insisting it was a dive.
The Manchester City winger fell in the penalty area after Joakim Maehle stuck out his leg, prompting the referee to award a penalty without any help from VAR.
Asked by ITV if the referee had been “generous”, or whether it was a “definite penalty”, Sterling was certain the Danish player fouled him.
“I went into the box and he stuck his right leg out, and it touched my leg so it was a clear penalty,” Sterling told ITV.
“It was a top performance…we had to dig in deep after the first goal we conceded in the tournament, and we regrouped well and showed a good team spirit to come back and win the game.
“It was difficult going behind but we knew we had to stay patient…we knew with the legs we’ve got, the aggressiveness and the power we have in the team, it would be a matter of time before we broke them down.”
Harry Kane’s spot-kick was saved by Kasper Schmeichal, only for the ball to fall kindly into his path again and put England ahead of the Danes.
Asked what he thought about the penalty, England manager Gareth Southgate appeared evasive, telling ITV he hadn’t seen it “again”, but that Sterling was a “thorn” in the Danish side all night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXFxlDvoXgs
RTÉ analyst and former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann said it was a “scandalous” dive and that England didn’t deserve to win in that way.
“Obviously, they saw the game out well after going ahead. Did they deserve it? I have to disagree with Liam because they won with a penalty which was a blatant dive,” the German insisted.
“This is not in the spirit of the game and England always prides itself on being the home of fair play and no diving.
“We all remember what happened with Klinsmann when he came to England and he dived and they had the celebration with the diving.
“We brought VAR in…Sterling probably thought the challenge is going to come, so I give him the benefit of the doubt, he probably thought the challenge was going to come in but Maehle pulls out of the tackle because he sees he can’t get there.
“There’s no contact whatsoever. VAR was brought in to rectify these decisions and change blatant mistakes by the referee. This is as blatant a mistake as you will see and this is a European Championship semi-final.
“I feel sorry for the Danes. I feel there was every chance it would have gone to penalties and we all might have thought they had the advantage with Schmeichel in goal.”
The English team will face Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday at 8pm.