Neville and Wright disagreed.
Gary Neville and Ian Wright had a frank exchange over the penalty decision awarded to England in their Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands.
Harry Kane stepped up and converted the penalty, scoring his third goal of the tournament.
Referee Felix Zwayer had initially waved play on after contact between Kane and Denzel Dumfries as the England captain took a shot at goal.
But VAR reviewed the decision and recommended the referee to check the monitor, after which he gave a spot kick.
Fans had mixed views on the incident, with some believing Zwayer’s original call should have stood without VAR intervention.
And on ITV, Neville made his feelings clear, describing it as a ‘disgraceful decision’.
He said: “As a defender, I think it’s an absolute disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace of a decision.
“To have that given against me as a penalty at any time, but particularly in a game of such importance… I was fuming with the penalty in the Denmark game, the handball – I was offended by that one.
“He goes in naturally, just to try and block the shot. It’s not a penalty for me, it’s nowhere near a penalty. I don’t think there were many England players appealing for it.
“But you take your luck – England played really well in the first half.
Wright then countered Neville’s point, arguing: “That was reckless from Dumfries for me.
“The way he’s challenged there.. Gary, that’s why he’s given it! It’s VAR. If that’s anywhere else on the pitch, you get a foul for it! One hundred per cent. Penalties are given for those.
“Look, his studs were up. Those are given as penalties now, even if we think it’s soft.”
🗣️ “It’s an absolute DISGRACE… It’s nowhere near a penalty.”
🗣️ “That was RECKLESS from Dumfries.”#Euro2024 | #NEDENG | @IanWright0 | @GNev2 pic.twitter.com/MBcwzzIgxi
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 10, 2024
Neville stated: “The problem is, we’re all going mad. We don’t know what a penalty is.
“We’ve conditioned ourselves in the game now where we think that’s reckless. In the box, there’s a little bit of licence for a defender to go in, with honesty, and block a shot. There’s got to be a bit of licence, or else you’d never block a shot.”
There were also differing opinions on commentary, with Arsenal legend Lee Dixon expressing his surprise when the penalty kick was given.
But Kane gleefully accepted the decision and put the ball into the bottom left corner, leaving Brighton and Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen with little chance of keeping it out.
The England captain is the Three Lions’ top goalscorer at Euro 2024, ahead of midfielder Jude Bellingham who is on two for the tournament.
Unseen footage from inside the stadium shows Jordan Pickford’s 1000 IQ move to put Manuel Akanji off during penalty shootout (an)
Jordan Pickford made a crucial penalty save from Manuel Akanji as England progressed to the Euro 2024 semi finals.
Unseen footage from inside the stadium showed how England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford got inside the head of Manuel Akanji before producing a crucial penalty save.
Pickford has become something of a penalty specialist for the Three Lions and England’s No.1 came up with heroics again in the quarter final in Dusseldorf.
After a 1-1 draw following Bukayo Saka quickly cancelling out Breel Embolo’s strike, the clash went all the way to penalties.
All five of England’s takers did the business, with Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all finding the net to secure a 5-3 shoot-out victory.
Image: Getty
Manchester City defender Akanji was the only player to miss after stepping up first for the Swiss.
But the BBC’s feed did not quite cover the lengths Pickford went to put off Akanji.
He spent a considerable amount of time delaying the taking of the penalty
As shared by presenter Rob Armstrong, footage from the stands showed Pickford taking his time, putting his water bottle and towel down before speaking to the referee Daniele Orsato.
He then guessed right to make the save after having the words “dive left” on his bottle in regards to Akanji’s placement.
Image: Getty
Pickford has now saved four penalties out of 14 in major tournament shoot-outs but the Everton shostopper did reveal afterwards that the referee didn’t allow his normal process during the shoot-out.
Speaking to ITV, he said: “Firstly, the referee didn’t let me do my usual process, so I’ve got to adapt… because I like to give the lads the ball. I could only do it for the first time and luckily, I saved it.”
Alexander-Arnold scored the winning penalty to set up a semi final showdown with the Netherlands on Wednesday.
The Dutch came from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 in Berlin.
BBC panel leaves the whole of England in disbelief after praising one player during Switzerland game (an)
Fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing
Fans have been left baffled while watching the BBC’s coverage of England vs Switzerland.
The Three Lions struggled in the quarter-final clash and fell behind after 75 minutes when Breel Embolo bundled home before Bukayo Saka levelled the score five minutes later with a stunning effort from distance.
Gareth Southgate made just one change to the team that beat Slovakia, with Ezri Konsa replacing the suspended Marc Guehi, with a slight change of system to allow Phil Foden to play more centrally.
Various reports in the media suggested Southgate would start with a three-man defence, with Saka playing at left wing-back, but it was Kieran Trippier who retained his place on the left of defence.
While the change to accommodate Foden led to the Man City man getting on the ball more, he was unable to make a significant difference to proceedings.
Nevertheless, the entire BBC panel of Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Micah Richards enthused over his first-half showing.
England fans however had other ideas and claimed the panellists must have be watching a different game, not at all impressed with Foden’s showing.
Here is how they reacted on social media:
Thoughts on Phil Foden's first half? 🤔#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #ENGSUI pic.twitter.com/5nWJSJrqqG
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 6, 2024
One fan said: “Not impressive at all.”
Another said: “Baffled by the praise at half time, he’s done nothing.”
A third added: “These 4 are watching a different game. It’s been awful.”
A fourth said: “He’s done about as much as me in that first half, and I’m sat at home.”
Roy Keane’s reaction to Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick vs Slovakia has gone viral (an)
Finally, a fifth fan added: “He’s been ok but that was bizarre coverage of him at half time.”
Phil Foden playing for England (Getty)
Commentating on the slight formation change, Foden admitted it would help bring the best out of his game.
He told the BBC before the game: “We changed formation to match what they do and get pressure up the field and to try retain the ball – let’s see if it works, I am looking forward to it.
“For me it will be I’ll be more centrally and staying inside. I think it will suit me a little bit better today.
“If we get the formation right and press right it will give us a lot of confidence.”
