Scotland boss Steve Clarke took aim at Facundo Tello and questioned why the Argentine was refereeing at the European Championship after his side were denied a penalty against Hungary last night.
Substitute Stuart Armstrong appeared to be felled by Willi Orban in the second half with replays clearly showing the Hungary defender had made contact with the Scotland midfielder.
Tello waved play on and the VAR team refused to overrule him. Scotland pushed for the win they needed late on but were then caught by a sucker punch as Kevin Csoboth scored for Hungary in the 10th minute of injury time.
Defeat means Scotland finish bottom of Group A and exit the tournament.
A furious Clarke told BBC Scotland: “The moment in the game is the penalty. It is 100 per cent a penalty.
“Somebody has to explain to me why that is not a penalty because otherwise, I’m thinking there is something wrong.”
Alan Shearer has slammed the decision not to give Scotland a spot-kick against Hungary.
“That for me is a clear penalty!” #BBCEuros #Euro2024 #SCOHUN pic.twitter.com/ypuN2jo8NH
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 23, 2024
Asked if had spoken to the referee, he added: “What is the point? He is from Argentina. What is the point? Why is it not a European referee?
“I don’t understand why he is here and not in his own country refereeing the game.
“I don’t understand the VAR can look at that and say it is not a penalty, just my opinion.”
Although Scotland had reason to be angry, that doesn’t hide from a poor performance that saw them register just one shot on target, and that in injury time.
“A tough night for us, tough night. We couldn’t do what we wanted to do,” admitted Clarke.
“We all suffer together, we are sad together. We are as sad as the supporters are because at the end of the day we are all supporters, we want to do well for our country.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t our night.”
Scotland fail to qualify once again
Defeat meant Scotland’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stages for the first time at a major tournament were dashed once again.
Midfielder Callum McGregor said: “It’s a huge disappointment. There was so much hope and expectation, we thought this was going to be the time we did it.
“The players gave everything but sometimes in football the ball just doesn’t drop where you need it to drop. That was probably the case tonight.
“The point wasn’t enough for us, it would have been a big ask for us to go through on two points. We knew we had to try and win the game. You throw everything at it and you get hit on the counter-attack. That goal was probably irrelevant.
“We’ve been away from these competitions for a long time. It’s building all the time and sometimes you have to suffer disappointment to understand the level.
“We definitely had the confidence and belief we could get the job done. Hungary made it a difficult game, like we knew they would, and they found the moment of quality which we never quite did.”
