Scotland manager Steve Clarke has demanded answers as to why his side were “100 per cent” denied a penalty kick, which cost them a last-16 spot at Euro 2024.
Stuart Armstrong appeared to have been brought down by defender Willy Orban in the final game of the group stage against Hungary, but Argentine referee Facundo Tejo refused to award a penalty. Sky Sports' Chris Boyd said he couldn't believe it.
Clarke expressed sympathy for the official but said VAR's decision not to intervene after seeing a replay of the incident was inexplicable.
“It’s a 100% penalty,” he said at a press conference. “Someone needs to explain why it’s not a penalty, it’s 100% a penalty.
“It's a one-goal game. We've been awarded a penalty. It could be another night. There are other words, but we won't use them.”
Willi Orban escaped punishment for this challenge on Stuart Armstrong.
“It’s a European competition, so I think it would have been better if we had European referees. VAR was European, maybe the referee didn’t see the foul clearly on the pitch, but what’s the point of VAR if you don’t come?” “I got a penalty kick for something like that.”
Former Scotland forward Boyd questioned why Spanish VAR Alejandro Hernández did not send Tello to the pitchside monitor, with Armstrong and his team-mates visibly upset at the time.
“I watched the penalty again and I can’t believe it wasn’t awarded,” Boyd said. Sky Sports News. “This is a natural soccer stance: arms extended across to protect the ball.
“The knee hit Armstrong’s upper calf. I can’t believe a penalty wasn’t awarded. It would have changed everything.”
“It's a penalty kick all day long. If the referee had been able to go to the monitor, he might have been able to correct the wrong decision.”
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Kris Boyd says he does not understand how Scotland were denied a penalty against Hungary.
Clark: We need to think about how we can score more goals
Despite realistically needing to win, Scotland failed to record a single effective shot until the 8th minute of extra time in the second half, and 3 of the 4 shots in total went beyond the 90-minute mark.
Clarke refused to comment on exactly what saw Scotland crash out of the European Championship in succession in the group stage of the second tournament, but admitted they will have to sit down with staff to work out how they can score more goals . Future competitions.
He said: “It's very difficult to sit here and analyze it, but sometimes after a loss like that you need a little time to digest it all and figure out how the game went and why it went that way.
“We didn't create enough, but we created enough to score goals. That's clear. Is that why we're out of the tournament?
“We've scored two goals in this tournament and one at the end. Of course, it's my job to talk to the coaches about how we can score more goals at certain times in the game.”
Rossi: We deserved to win
Kevin Csoboth has ended Scotland's euro hopes.
After the victory, Hungary coach Marco Rossi said his side deserved their first win in the competition. This gave them external hope of advancing to the round of 16 at the European Championships, their second in the last three.
“The Scots had a bit more possession, especially in the first half,” he admitted, but “the game was a bit more up and down in the second half. It started around the 70th minute and lasted almost half an hour.” There was a situation from one side to the other.
“I would say it was an equal game for us. Certainly we had more chances, they had more of the ball, but overall I don’t think we deserved to win. We deserved it.”
Regarding Scotland's penalty, Rossi refused to express sympathy and instead compared it to the foul he should have given to Ilkay Gundogan ahead of Germany's first goal during Hungary's 2-0 loss to the hosts in the previous match.
“Before the game, Gundogan said he committed a clear foul on Orbán, so why should we talk about this moment?” he said.
“I didn’t see it clearly on the bench, but in the VAR room, I thought it wasn’t a penalty kick if it wasn’t awarded. In the European Championship, a lot of pushing from behind is allowed.”
