Slovakia escaped with a massive European Championship shock thanks to a VAR decision called “scandalous” and “ridiculous” in the aftermath of the 1-0 win over Belgium.
The football world was up in arms when Romelu Lukaku, who already had one goal chalked off for a tight offside was denied a late equaliser for handball in the build-up by Lois Openda.
The Euros are using a cricket-style Snicko technology – used to show feather touches of ball on bat – for the first time and it showed a touch but Openda as he beat his man on the left side of attack before crossing for Lukaku to score.
The use of Snicko seemed odd, with video enough to show a touch of ball on hand, but it still seemed a ludicrously harsh hand ball call.
On BBC former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said: “That is scandalous. It is ridiculous, it really is.
“Openda doesn’t intentionally push the ball into his path. That is harsh. In the Premier League, that goal would stand.”
Speaking on Optus Sport, former Socceroo and current head coach of A-League’s Western United, was equally stunned and questioned the use of the Snicko style tech.
“I don’t really understand why we need Snicko,” said Aloisi.
“I understand you’ve got to chip in the ball to see if the ball goes over the goal line. I get that. I also get VAR in terms of offside. Now it’s clear and obvious if it’s offside.
“But for these handball decisions, for the penalty shouts and all that, I’m confused. I really am, because I think that it takes away from the referee actually making a decision. And plus, I’m not sure what the rule is.
“They did say that if it’s accidental handball and that you actually go and score yourself, they will give it handball.
“But if you actually play the ball and your teammate scores, it’s play on. So I don’t know if that rule was just changed of late. And this is where we get confused. And this is where the match officials probably get confused because the rule keeps on changing. Snicko, take it away, I don’t want that in the game. That’s just ridiculous.
“The defender doesn’t even appeal for handball. So if it’s clear and obvious, the defender would start putting up his hand.
“His arm’s not in an unnatural position. He’s actually shielding the ball. Ridiculous. It really is. I just don’t understand. It’s frustrating.”
Slovakia, ranked 48th in the world took the lead in through Ivan Schranz in the seventh minute after an error by Jeremy Doku.
Mbappe’s busted nose
France opened with a 1-0 won over Austria in a game decided by an own goal from Max Wober, who inadvertently headed a Kylian Mbappe cross into his own net after 38 minutes.
Mbappe, who missed a simple one-on-one in the second half then left the with what appeared to be a broken nose and went to hospital for tests.
Mbappe’s future in the tournament is in doubt, although he could feature wearing a mask.
Didier Deschamps, the France coach, gave a gloomy outlook. “He’s not doing well. He’s with the medical staff.
“His nose got badly hit, that’s for sure. We need to check it out, but it seems quite complicated. Which is very unfortunate for us tonight.”
Romania smash Ukraine
Real Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin’s error sent Romania on the way to a 3-0 rout.
“It’s a memorable victory, a historic victory for the Romanian people,” coach Edward Iordanescu said.
It was Romania’s first tournament match since Euro 2016, when his father Anghel was coach.
The match was a desperate disappointment for a Ukraine side seeking to give their beleaguered homeland some cheer.
Prior to the match parts of a stand from Kharkiv’s Sonyachny stadium, that was built for Euro 2012 and destroyed in 2022 by Russian troops, was on display to highlight the damage done to the country’s sporting infrastructure by the invasion.