German Assistant Coach Confronts Referee Taylor After Controversial Euros Quarter-Final

According to Bild, a German newspaper, witnesses saw Germany’s assistant coach Sandro Wagner storm into referee Anthony Taylor’s changing room following the quarter-final match between Germany and Spain at the European Championships.

Bild reports that Wagner lost his temper due to a controversial non-penalty decision involving Cucurella’s handball. He directly vented his frustration towards the English referee.

The newspaper detailed Wagner’s vocal confrontation with Taylor inside the dressing room, which stemmed from a disputed call in extra time when Cucurella’s handball was not penalized. The German camp was furious, especially as Taylor declined to explain his decision after the match, escalating tensions.

To prevent further altercations, Taylor and his refereeing team left the stadium promptly in a black van. By 9:47 PM, 80 minutes after the final whistle, the referees had already departed.

In his subsequent press conference, Germany’s head coach Julian Nagelsmann commented on the incident, saying, “For years, I’ve tried to understand why certain fouls are punished with penalties while others aren’t. In our game, if Musiala plays a pass and Cucurella touches it with his hand, I don’t think it should be a penalty. However, when the ball is headed towards the goal and a Spanish player blocks its path with his hand, unintentionally or not, that matters according to the rules because the ball was going towards the goal. Our penalty against Denmark was a much less severe situation in comparison.”