Euro 2020: Peter Schmeichel claims referee made a ‘REALLY big mistake’ by giving England a penalty

Peter Schmeichel bemoaned the referee’s ‘really big mistake’ to give England a penalty in extra-time after Denmark were dumped out of Euro 2020 in Wednesday night’s semi-final – as boss Kasper Hjulmand admitted he feels ‘bitter’ about the way his side were beaten.

Harry Kane saw his penalty saved by Schmeichel’s son Kasper but the England striker followed up to score the rebound to net the winner for Gareth Southgate‘s side in extra-time.

Referee Danny Makkelie awarded England the penalty after Raheem Sterling went down in the box under the challenge of two Denmark defenders.

Former England striker Ian Wright admitted they were ‘lucky’ to get a penalty and Schmeichel admitted the defeat is ‘hard to accept’ because the referee made the wrong decision. 

Speaking on beIN SPORTS following Denmark’s 2-1 loss, the legendary ex-goalkeeper said: ‘He made a really big mistake on the penalty and this will be debated for a long, long time. It’s a hard one to take because it’s not a penalty. 

‘I would have been much more relaxed and acceptable if they had scored one of the many chances that they created but unfortunately the referee made a big mistake in my opinion.

‘I know in your opinion (points at other pundits in the studio) and everyone’s opinion, my phone has not stopped going off, everyone else is saying it’s not a penalty so I’m quite sure that I’m [right in saying that].’

Jose Mourinho came out after the game and admitted he was ‘disappointed’ by the decision and felt VAR should have overturned it.

‘It was never a penalty, never a penalty,’ he told talkSPORT. ‘The best team won, England deserved to win, England was fantastic but for me it was never a penalty.

‘The best team won, England is a better team than Denmark. Denmark played the way I was expecting them to play and they played to their limits. 

‘England were really, really good and no doubts that deserved to win that match but for me it is never a penalty. I think at this level, especially at this level, the semi-final of a Euros, I don’t understand the referee’s decision and I don’t understand even more why VAR didn’t get the referee to go to the screen or overturn the decision. 

‘For me it’s never a penalty. Not with Vestergaard and not with the second defender. So as a football man I am very happy England won and I think they deserved to win, don’t get me wrong, but as a football man I am disappointed that that penalty was given.’ 

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was equally bemused by VAR’s failure to intervene.

‘No penalty,’ Wenger said on beIN SPORTS. ‘I don’t understand why they don’t ask the referee to have a look at it. 

‘In a moment like that, it’s important that the referee is absolutely convinced that it was a penalty. It was not clear enough to say: ‘yes it is,’ and at least he should have had a look on the screen.

‘I don’t know why the VAR didn’t ask him to go. For me, it was no penalty, no. I think that VAR has let the referee down, not Denmark. Denmark is a bit unfortunate.

‘I understand that it’s difficult for the referee, but he must have a look at it.’

Former England striker Wright also admitted there was an element of fortune about the penalty decision as he debated it with Roy Keane. 

‘People can say it’s soft but those have been given all season,’ Wright said.

‘The little clip, the little touch, you heard what Raheem said. He felt like he got touched and he went down.’

Keane argued that it was too soft, saying: ‘I don’t think it’s a penalty. We’ve looked back.

‘It was unlikely when it went to VAR that they were going to see it was a clear and obvious mistake. But Sterling got stronger as the game went on and when you’ve got people who can go past people, it just opens the game up. 

‘But I think very, very soft.’

Speaking about the incident on Sky Sports on Thursday morning, fellow pundit Gary Neville said: ‘No not a chance should it have been given, that was never a penalty in a million years. 

‘I always think about what would the headlines be this morning, how would we be feeling this morning if we were on the other end of that penalty, we would be absolutely devastated.

‘But honestly I don’t care, I’ve been to eight tournaments with England and I’ve been knocked out where we have had goals disallowed, chances missed, posts hit, referees sending players off when we didn’t think it was a sending off, all those excuses that we’ve made over the years and those reasons why we didn’t succeed. 

‘I genuinely think that team would have succeeded last night even without that penalty and it would have done something different and got that goal.’

Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand admitted he felt bitter after England ended his battling side’s Euro 2020 dream at Wembley on Wednesday night. 

Hjulmand was unhappy there was a second ball on the pitch at the time of the foul but also insisted it was not a penalty.

He added: ‘It was a penalty which should not have been a penalty. It is something which annoys me right now. We are very disappointed.

‘You cannot pass by the ball on the pitch which has so much influence on the game.

‘I know it sounds weird right now but I cannot help having these feelings. One thing is to lose a game, it happens, but losing this way is disappointing because these guys have fought a lot.

‘It feels bitter but we have to digest this before we can discuss these feelings. It’s a bitter way to leave the tournament.

‘The way we lost makes it harder to understand why we lost. I have to be careful with what I say. We have an amazing group and we definitely can do something great again.

‘Maybe it is easier for me to say how I feel in a few days.’