England's Michael Oliver blew the whistle to kick off France's quarter-final against Portugal on Friday evening in Hamburg. Less than a week ago, he topped the round of 16 between Germany and Denmark.
Despite the many criticisms they have received since the start of Euro 2024, English referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have been reinforced in their duties and have been appointed to officiate two of the four quarter-finals at Euro 2024. Anthony Taylor will take charge of the match. Germany and Spain meet on Friday evening in Stuttgart, while Michael Olivier will referee the replay of the Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal.
Read also:
France-Portugal: “A special match in my family!” For Antoine Griezmann, a special quarter-final between his two home countries
Michael Olivier was appointed to referee the last-16 clash between Germany and Denmark at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. The 39-year-old was quick to deny the Germans a goal, with Joshua Kimmich pointing to a foul on a Dane before Nico Schlotterbeck’s header. Then, after a long delay due to spectacular flooding, the Englishman denied Denmark a goal early in the second half.
The foul was a few millimetres offside, which angered diehard football fans. Many felt that VAR could be harsh, while its critics took the opportunity to say that VAR was “ruining” football. The next move brought more grist to their mill. On a close-range cross from Germany’s David Raum in the opposition area, Joachim Andersen pushed the ball away with his hand.
Joachim Andersen: “It was a crazy penalty and not a penalty at all. I can't run with my arms behind my back and play football.”
“He's half a metre away from me and he hits the ball into my hand, so I can't see what I can do to stop it.”
“The offside call is also difficult… pic.twitter.com/jTnZW7Kf0o
— Eurofoot (@eurofootcom) June 30, 2024
The English referee then went to VAR before awarding the penalty and Kai Havertz opened the scoring. A real turnaround for the Danes, who thought they had opened the scoring seconds earlier. “There is no shadow of a penalty. It is one of the worst refereeing performances I have seen in my career. Offside is offside, but it can decide the outcome of the game in a situation like this, it is complete madness,” said Andersen after the match.
Read also:
France vs Portugal in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024: Date, time, channel and stadium.. Everything you need to know about the Blues’ encounter
The former Olympique Lyonnais defender also pointed out the difficulty of communicating with the referee, while only the captain is now allowed to communicate with the referee. “I'm not allowed to do that. Then you get fines and a yellow card. It's a ridiculous rule. He can make all the mistakes he wants, and you can't tell him anything. The rule says we can't talk.” “The referee is the stupidest referee I've ever heard. Of course you react when the referee makes a bad decision, and I don't know how many bad decisions he made during this game,” the Dane continued.
