"I watched it and was shocked!" Russian ex-referee assesses the moment with Mudryk in the Ukraine - Italy match

Former Russian football referee Serhiy Lapochkin was shocked by the decision of Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano not to award a penalty kick to the Italian national team at the end of the match against Ukraine in the 2024 European Championship qualifying match. According to the representative of the aggressor country, Azzurri defender Brian Cristante clearly violated the rules against winger Mykhailo Mudryk.

Lapochkin expressed such a categorical opinion in a commentary to journalist Alexei Andronov, who published the ex-referee's words on his Telegram channel. The Russian emotionally emphasized that Manzano was obliged to record a foul on the Ukrainian midfielder, which allowed the Blue and Yellows to score an 11-meter goal and reach the Euros, bypassing the playoffs.

"I watched this moment and was blown away! Of course, it was a penalty kick. Mudryk played the ball, and the defender tripped him. And it doesn't matter that the contact was minimal and the Ukrainian fell down in a picture perfect way. It's a foul!" Lapochkin commented on the episode.

Earlier, the legendary captain of the Italian national team, Giuseppe Bergomi, expressed confidence that the referee had forgiven the Italian national team in the match against Ukraine in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. In his turn, the head coach of Ukraine Serhiy Rebrov categorically commented on the moment of Mudryk's fall.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, all the schedules for the Ukrainian national team in the playoffs of the qualifying tournament for the 2024 European Championship have been published. At the same time, our team will take part in the draw for the final part of the championship.

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