Peter Schmeichel has taken aim at Danny Makkelie after the referee gave England a controversial penalty in their 2-1 win over Denmark on Wednesday.
England were good value for the victory which sent them through to Sunday’s Euro 2020 final against Italy but the final goal has been hotly contested.
The debate centres around Raheem Sterling, who went down in the penalty area under pressure from Joakim Maehle and Mathias Jensen in the first half of extra time.
Makkelie was in a good position and immediately blew his whistle and pointed to the spot to award England a penalty, with VAR then confirming the decision.
Kasper Schmeichel continued his impressive performance by getting down low to save Harry Kane’s tame effort but the England captain gratefully put away the rebound to send Gareth Southgate’s side through to the final.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel accepted that England were worthy winners but bemoaned the way his son’s side were dumped out.
“He (Makkelie) made a really big mistake on the penalty and this will be debated for a long, long time,” he said to beIN SPORTS.
“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].”
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Peter Schmeichel is far from the only pundit to question the decision, despite Sterling saying it was a “clear penalty” because he felt contact in his post-match interview with ITV.
Roma boss Jose Mourinho said it was “never a penalty” on talkSPORT and questioned why the VAR did not intervene after watching the replays.
“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,” he said.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made a similar point on beIN SPORTS, saying the VAR should have asked Makkelie to use the pitchside monitor to have another look at the incident.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville admitted it was a “soft” penalty, but ex-England striker Ian Wright defended the decision.
“People can say it's soft but those have been given all season,” Wright said on ITV.
“The little clip, the little touch, you heard what Raheem said. He felt like he got touched and he went down.”
Another point that has been used to discredit the penalty is the fact that two balls were on the pitch in the build-up as Sterling worked his way down the right hand side towards the byline.
However, that suggestion is undermined by FIFA's laws of the game, which state that the referee must stop play in such a situation “only if it interferes with play.”
