England's friendly against Uruguay at Wembley ended in a 1-1 draw, but the match was overshadowed by controversial refereeing decisions. Ben White, booed by his own fans, scored what looked like the winner before conceding a stoppage-time penalty. The spot kick was converted by Federico Valverde, who lashed the ball into the bottom left corner.
Thomas Tuchel, speaking to ITV, expressed his frustration: 'It is not a penalty, I am sorry. Absolutely OK with our performance. I like how we put it into life, the structure. We were the better team overall.' He also questioned why Ronald Araujo's challenge on Phil Foden was not checked by VAR, saying: 'How is this not checked by VAR? The penalty is not enough for me, but OK.'
Harry Maguire echoed Tuchel's sentiments, calling the penalty 'ridiculous' and 'soft'. He added: 'Ben goes to block the shot. It's not a tackle, it's not malicious. It went against us today but we move on.' Maguire also criticised the decision not to send off Araujo: 'You don't see tackles like that and not see a red card. It's a couple of months to the World Cup and we've got referees allowing tackles like that.'
The match also saw confusion over Manuel Ugarte's bookings. Ugarte was shown a second yellow card, but it was reportedly 'rescinded' by the fourth official and VAR. Ian Wright on ITV commented: 'They're making it up as they go along. It's like we didn't see what we saw.'
Despite the controversy, England dominated large parts of the game. Maguire said: 'I thought we controlled the whole game. They didn't create a chance. We could have been better, we know that. We lost rhythm and the game-plan, but that's what happens in these games when you make changes.'
The result leaves both teams with work to do ahead of the World Cup. England will look to build on their performance, while Uruguay will be pleased with their resilience. The match will be remembered more for the refereeing decisions than the football itself.
