The Hungary manager, Marco Rossi, accused the referee Danny Makkelie of a “double standard” after a controversial Jamal Musiala goal was allowed to stand in their 2-0 defeat by Germany.
Rossi and his players were furious that Ilkay Gündogan was not pulled up, either by Makkelie or VAR, in the buildup for what they felt was a shove on the centre-back Willi Orban. In truth contact had been light and, on balance, the decision seemed correct. But it set Hungary on the way to a defeat that leaves their participation beyond the group stage at Euro 2024 in grave doubt and Rossi pondered whether bigger-name sides might have been treated differently.
“What the referee did tonight, it’s a double standard,” said Rossi, citing an incident in the second half when the Germany midfielder Robert Andrich tumbled in his own box and was given a foul. “From my perspective Germany would have won anyway, they’re stronger than us, but the referee was the worst on the pitch.
“Germany didn’t need help from the referee, especially against a team like Hungary. When they play against someone like France, let’s see if a foul will be given or not.”
Hungary, who have two defeats from two, must beat Scotland to have any chance of a place in the last 16. “We will try everything to win,” Rossi said. “Our fans want to see on the pitch that we are spitting blood. I don’t ask our guys to win, to score goals. I just ask them to give their maximum.”
Gündogan had a different view of the opener. “I was quite surprised that the Hungarian player and his teammates were angry about it,” he said. “I don’t know what it looked like on TV but I played in the Premier League for seven years and if you gave that in the Premier League as a foul I think everyone would have been laughing on the floor.”
Julian Nagelsmann, whose team have reached the knockout stage with a game to spare, urged Germany to finish the job by topping Group A. “We want to be first in our group and then we will see,” he said. “For today I’m happy with the result. It was a tough game and we’ve qualified.”
