Spain vs Germany did not disappoint any soccer fans worldwide except for the German supporters. Battling Spain’s one-goal lead till the penultimate minute of the second half, Die Mannschaft would have believed they deserved to win after a stunning comeback. However, they were denied a penalty by referee Anthony Taylor in the 107th minute of the game after Marc Cucurella’s hand touched the ball after Jamal Musiala’s shot.

Subsequently, the team lost 2-1 to Spain after a winning goal by La Roja in the dying minutes of extra time. But with fans divided on the issue, former England star and pundit Gary Neville appears to support his compatriot Taylor. Taking to his X (previously Twitter) Neville wrote, “Thank you for not being handball!!,” subtly indicating that Taylor’s decision was correct. Usually, such decisions go either way, but Taylor has reasons to justify his decision with Cucurella’s hand moving towards his body when the ball hit his arm.

Penalty decisions have been rather harsh on defending teams. Although there was a brief check by VAR on this occasion, the referee did not find adequate reasons to reverse the decision. A total of eight decisions were overturned by VAR regarding penalties this tournament and 7 went in the favor of the attacking team leading to spot kicks.

However, Germany was unlucky on this occasion, as Cucurella’s arm wasn’t in an offensive position for VAR to take its side. The 25-year-old’s arm was pointed down and Neville was thankful it wasn’t given.

Gary Neville had a different opinion about Taylor’s verdicts earlier. The ex-United defender took a dig at Taylor earlier this year for giving Liverpool a spot-kick against his former team. A few years ago Neville felt Taylor should have given Chelsea a penalty against Tottenham Hotspur after its goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, took down Marcus Alonso. Nevertheless, another expert chose the path of Neville from yesteryear.

Gary Neville receives contrary opinions about Anthony Taylor

It was strange to see Gary Neville siding with Taylor. But a former USMNT star felt it should have been a penalty and was baffled by the referees. MLS analyst and former forward Taylor Twellman tweeted, writing, “I have NO IDEA what a handball is anymore. Truly #EURO2024,” expressing his astonishment with the decision. With Musiala’s ball heading towards the goal, Cucurella’s hand was slightly away from his body, which is sufficient for a handball felt by a few fans.

Despite many changes to the rules, Euro 2024 is having its own set of controversies. Nonetheless, the competition has been thrilling, to say the least, with many twists and turns and these quarterfinals will be etched as one of the classics of the competition sheerly for the quality of soccer played in it.