It takes away some charm – Denmark’s Hareide unsure on VAR long term

Denmark coach Age Hareide has questioned how VAR will work in football long term after seeing his side held to a 1-1 draw in Group C against Australia.

Christian Eriksen gave Denmark the lead with a superb strike but Australia benefited from a controversial decision, with the Socceroos awarded a penalty after Yussuf Poulsen was deemed to have handled the ball after referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz reviewed video footage.

Denmark had to cope with continued attacks from Australia but managed to hang on and secure a point, which kept them three clear of Bert van Warwijk’s side.

While Hareide had no arguments about the decision to award Australia a penalty, he expressed concerns as to how VAR will work in football going forward.

“It was probably a correct decision but VAR removes some of the charm of football,” he told a news conference after the match.

“Goal-line technology is very much ok but when it’s so detailed and how tough football is, I don’t know how this is going to work for football.

“I do believe it was a penalty. In this situation it looks like a penalty and that’s ok but then you have other situations in a match that they should also stop to look at, but they’re not doing that.

“So, who decides? The referee on the pitch or people sitting somewhere else?”

Hareide was pictured speaking to the referee at the final whistle and explained why he did so.

“It was a situation with [Andreas] Cornelius. He was pulled down and everyone can see it,” Hareide added.

“But he’s big, he’s strong and so he got back up. That was a situation that the referee should have dealt with but fair enough. That was just a question from me to the referee and that’s all it was.”