France's star forward Kylian Mbappe warmed the benches as they played a goalless draw against Netherlands. Coach Didier Deschamps did not want to risk him getting injured against Dutch defenders who can get physical at times.
Mbappe who broke his nose during the ending stages of France's 1-0 win over Australia was seen resuming light training earlier this week. He wore a plain black face mask during team's warm-up on June 21. He was among the substitutes but his services weren’t used.
Controversy took centrestage when Xavi Simons fired one past goalkeeper Mike Maignan. However, the lineman raised the flag as Denzel Dumfries was offside. After a lengthy VAR check, the call wasn't changed as they referee ruled that Dumfries was obstructing goalkeeper while he was offside even though he did not touch the ball.
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman feels hard done by and feels that Dumfries was offside but he was not obstructing Maignan.
“Dumfries is offside. That's true. But he isn't disturbing the goalkeeper. And when that is not happening, then it's a legal goal in my opinion,” Koeman said at the post-game press conference.
“And you need five minutes to check it because it's so difficult? I don't understand this,” he added.
On the other hand, Deschamps feels that the decision was spot on.
“When I saw the images, I thought it was a no-brainer,” Deschamps said.
Poland’s campaign in jeopardy after loss against Austria
After a defeat against France, Austria beat Robert Lewandowski's Poland 3-1. Poland Austria took the lead in the ninth minute. Gernot Trauner headed in a cross from Philipp Mwene. The equaliser came in the 30th minute when Krzysztof Piatek scored off a rebound from close range.
Lewandowski who missed Poland's clash against the Netherlands due to an injury rushed to the pitch 15 minutes into the second half replacing Adam Buska. But he immediately faced disappointment as Alexander Prass's excellent mass found Christoph Baumgartner who netted one past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
A tough challenge on Philipp Lienhart led to Lewandowski recieving a yellow card. To make matters worse, Szczesny brought down Sabitzer in the penalty are in the 77th minute. Marko Arnautovic did not make a mistake and scored from the spot to make it 3-1.
Qualification scenario
From Group D, Poland are almost out of the round of 16 race. They need to win by a huge goal difference against France on June 25 to have a chance to advance to the next round. Poland will also hope that Netherlands beat Austria comprehensively.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
Big update on Mohammed Shami's India comeback and recovery amidst T20 World Cup 2024
