England defender John Stones insists the penalty that allowed them to beat Denmark and set up the UEFA EURO 2020 Final against Italy was ‘definitely not’ controversial after Fabrizio Ravanelli called it ‘scandalous.’
The Final is at Wembley on Sunday at 20.00 UK time.
The media in Italy, Denmark, Spain and France all came down heavily on the decision to award a spot-kick in extra time, which Harry Kane converted on the rebound after an initial Kasper Schmeichel save, as Raheem Sterling went down under minimal contact.
However, when asked in a press conference if he thought the decision was controversial, Stones remained adamant.
“Definitely not. I think it was a penalty. I’m biased but I saw it back and I think the referee made the correct decision, or VAR made the correct decision.
“It’s something that I don’t want to get into or be swayed by, I suppose. From my opinion it was the correct decision, he’s been bumped from two sides.”
VAR has been ordered not to intervene unless there is a ‘clear and obvious error’ from the referee, but this has effectively rendered the technology futile for all but the most blatant mistakes.
Today is the 15th anniversary of Italy winning the 2006 World Cup, but this is the first major tournament Final that most England fans – and indeed all their players – have ever seen.
“From outside what I’ve been hearing is the England team, whoever plays or contributes, has given everything for that shirt in the past few years,” continued Stones.
“We all love the England team, growing up as fans, being able to play for them now, we absolutely cherish it.
“It’s huge, with it being at Wembley as well it’s even more special – something we could have only dreamt of at the start of the tournament.
“We’ve got this far now and we’ve grown throughout the tournament and not put too much pressure on ourselves. We’ve overcome some tough tests over the last few years.”