ODE dear! England fans reckon their Scottish counterparts suffered “poetic” justice with a controversial Euro 2024 exit.
Steve Clarke blasted the use of an Argentinian referee after the Tartan Army were denied a “100 per cent” penalty in Hungary’s 1-0 win.
Scotland fans sung and danced to taunt England over Diego Maradona’s notorious role in the Three Lions’ 1986 World Cup quarter-finals exit
Steve Clarke is sure Scotland were wrongly denied a penalty
But some Three Lions’ supporters claimed the Scottish misfortune was “karma”.
That’s because just days earlier Tartan Army followers in Munich had chanted their joy at England‘s notorious 1986 World Cup quarter-final defeat against Argentina.
The Scots spiced up the Hokey-Cokey with the line: “Oh, Diego Maradona. He put the English out, out, out!”
Maradona’s wrongly-allowed “Hand of God” goal set Argentina up for a 2-1 victory on the way to winning the tournament in Mexico almost 38 years ago to the day.
And a fellow countryman of the Napoli legend also had a contentious role as Scotland again failed to progress from the group stages.
Ref Facundo Tello ignored appeals for a spot-kick at 0-0 in the second half.
Manchester United‘s Scott McTominay slipped Stuart Armstrong through, with the Southampton midfielder surging in front of Willi Orban but going down under the defender’s challenge.
VAR assessed the incident but declined to recommend an on-field review.
EPAStuart Armstrong was furious not to get a spot-kick[/caption]
EURO 2024 FREE BETS AND OFFERS
EURO 2024 LIVE: KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM GERMANY
And in the end Kevin Csoboth fired a breakaway winner for Hungary 10 minutes into stoppage time.
The match had needed a lengthy hold-up as Hungarian forward Barnabas Varga was knocked unconscious in a sickening collision with Scotland keeper Angus Gunn.
Varga was taken to hospital and has had surgery for a fractured cheekbone.
Afterwards, Clarke had no doubts his team were robbed of a spot-kick – but the extent of his outburst still surprised many.
The ex-Chelsea defender and former Reading manager, 60, said: “It’s 100 per cent a penalty and someone has to explain to me why it’s not.
“Because otherwise I’m thinking there’s something wrong.
“Did I have a conversation with the officials? What’s the point, he’s from Argentina.
“What’s the point? Why is it not a European referee? Trying to be clever, I dunno, I don’t understand.
“I don’t understand why he’s here and not in his own country refereeing a game.
“I don’t understand how VAR can look at that and say it’s not a penalty. That’s just my opinion. It’s 100 per-cent a penalty.”
Meet Germany’s Euro 2024 Wags
Germany’s Wags range from a glam architect to a leading equestrian and a fashion model.
Dani ter Stegen (Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s wife)
One of Germany’s most popular Wags with over 600,000 Instagram followers. Earned a degree in architecture after moving to Barcelona with her husband.
Sara Gundogan (Ilkay Gundogan’s wife)
Italian model was never shy to pop a dig at Manchester while Ilkay was at Man City, but has changed her tune and said she misses the city since his move to Barcelona.
Jessica Kroos (Toni Kroos’ wife)
Couple first met when Toni was 18 and she was 20. Jessica is credited with convincing the soon-to-retire Germany star to sign a new Real Madrid deal at a time when he was wavering.
Candice Brook (Leroy Sane’s girlfriend)
American model helped Harry Kane get used to Germany and overcome the language barrier following his move to Bayern Munich.
Sophia Weber (Kai Havertz’s fiancee)
Soon-to-be Mrs Havertz has struck up a close friendship with Martin Odegaard’s partner Helene Spilling. Sophia recently enjoyed a hen party in Ibiza.
Lisa Muller (Thomas Muller’s wife)
Lisa is a famous dressage rider in Germany and reportedly convinced her husband not to join Man Utd.
But Clarke received little sympathy from England fans who had viewed the Hand of God Hokey-Cokey from Scottish counterparts.
Sharing a clip of that dancing, one Three Lions’ supporter posted: “How poetic is it that an Argentinian referee denied them a stonewall penalty to send them out after this video. See ya lads airports that way.”
Another wrote: “Karma is a b****.”
And a third taunted the Scots further by joking: “Gave it their best shot … well one shot anyway.”
But plenty of viewers insisted the spot-kick was far from clear-cut, with many arguing that in fact Armstrong had been the initial offender.
Ex-England frontman Alan Shearer backed Clarke’s verdict on the penalty – slamming Orban’s “terrible challenge” – but fellow BBC pundit Chris Sutton was certain the ref’s decision was correct.
The stats show what little impact the Scots made going forward