Afterwards, Pantelis Hatzidiakos screamed the frustration out of his body. The AZ defender thought he would make an excellent tackle against Bodø/Glimt in injury time, but the referee decided to put the ball on the spot. From there, Ola Solbakken shot the Norwegians to 2-1. “I am very disappointed,” says the Greek in front of the ESPN camera.
“I think the referee immediately knew he was wrong. Everyone in the stadium could see on the screen that it was a big mistake. I thought it was an excellent tackle,” said Hatzidiakos, who also did not receive a card for his foul. “He made a horrific mistake. I just hit the ball full. You see the referee very much doubting. It seemed as if he was shocked that he whistled.”
“If you give away a penalty in the last minute and then lose, that’s a shame. But we shouldn’t let it get that far,” concludes captain Owen Wijndal. “If you want to take a European tournament seriously, it seems to me at least logical that you introduce a VAR from the knockout,” says trainer Pascal Jansen about the penalty. “Because then it would undoubtedly have been turned back.”
According to the trainer of the Alkmaarders, a 1-1 draw would have been more appropriate. “The first half was difficult, because we did not get into the positional game we wanted to play. We handled the long ball a little too quickly. In the second half we get away well once, but then we play towards a good goal. the game is fairly balanced.”
The return is next Thursday in Alkmaar. Then at 6.45 pm the kick-off is between AZ and Bodø/Glimt with the aim of a place in the quarterfinals of the Conference League.