Julian Nagelsmann slams football rules after Germany exit from Euro 2024

Germany were knocked out of the 2024 European championship as Spain secured a dramatic extra time win.

The hosts had forced the game to extra-time thanks to a late Florian Wirtz equaliser, but were left heartbroken when Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino headed home the winner in the 119th minute.

However, the biggest talking point of the game came when Jamal Musiala shot cannoned off the hand of Marc Cucurella. Germany were not awarded a penalty and Julian Nagelsmann has called for changes to the handball law.

Jamal Musiala’s shot hit Spain’s Marc Cucurella. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa (Photo by Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)

As per the Guardian, Nagelsmann revealed after the game that he had no qualms with the decision based on the current rules, but did feel as though change had to be made.

The 36-year-old stated: “When it happened, I couldn’t see it well and all I was thinking was: I hope it is a penalty. Afterwards I saw it on television more clearly but at that time that is all I could think. They were more lucky than we were

“There is a rule and I hope there is no wrong decision. They applied the rule and it was not a penalty. I do not feel cheated. For me the question is about making it more practical, more logical, in terms of how this rule is assessed. I say this for football [in general] not today. You look at the hand, if it is at 3 o’clock, if it is a bit higher or a bit lower. But there are people with bigger muscles than me, different movements.

“I don’t understand why we don’t take into account what is happening with the ball. If Musiala kicks it towards Stuttgart centre and it hits the hand, I won’t say anything. But it was going towards goal. And for me, you should look at where it is going. Is it going into the clouds or is it going in the goal? In one case it is a penalty, in the other it is not. If it is going into the stands, then it is no penalty.

“The rule should be simpler. You can’t talk about intentions. You have to see where the ball is aimed. We have 50 robots that bring us our coffee so there should be an AI that calculates where the ball is going.”

Germany exit from the tournament will see the end of Toni Kroos. The former Real Madrid player will retire from football and will finish on 114 caps for the German national team.