Lionesses captain Millie Bright fumes at VAR controversy after last-gasp defeat

27 September 2023 , 07:46

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Millie Bright of England reacts during the UEFA Women's Nations League Group A match between Netherlands and England (Image: Photo by Harriet Lander - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

England captain Millie Bright has slammed the lack of video assistant referee following the Lionesses ’ 2-1 Nations League defeat against the Netherlands in which Daniëlle van de Donk was clearly offside for the Dutch opener.

Renate Jansen’s last-gasp winner following a mislaid pass from Alex Greenwood gave the Netherlands a 2-1 victory over the European champions after Alessia Russo cancelled out Lieke Martens’ first-half opener.

Van de Donk appeared to be offside in the build-up to the opening goal but the England players’ protestations were to no avail amid a lack of VAR.

VAR was used during the summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to much success but the technology has not been implemented for the inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign.

And Bright branded the inconsistent use of VAR in the upper echelons of the women's game as "mind-blowing". "There is no consistency," she said.

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"It is always frustrating [to not have VAR]. I think we push the level of the game to be so high and professional, yet we sometimes have VAR, sometimes don't, sometimes have goal-line technology...

"By no means is that an excuse. We put ourselves in that position - not clearing the ball, not getting out of pressure. But yeah, they are the differences in games as well and it is really unfortunate that these are still huge decisions that are incorrect.

"That's where we as players have to keep speaking about it, we have to step up, we have to demand better and demand more. This is international football and we do not have VAR in a competitive international game, which is mind-blowing."

And Bright’s compatriot Georgia Stanway echoed Bright’s censure in her post-match reflections, adding: Georgia Stanway said: “She [Van de Donk] was basically stood next to Mary [Earps, England’s goalkeeper].

“People at home can see straight away on the TV what is going on. We could see it [on the big screen] as soon as they had scored. So surely the referee can look up and see the big screen as well?

“But she has made the decision, so we have got to play and obviously we played to get the 1-1, and we were unfortunate towards the end of the game where we just need a little bit more game management.”

Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands marked England’s third loss in 41 matches under manager Sarina Wiegman, who appears to be going through her toughest spell yet at the helm of the Lionesses.

Lionesses captain Millie Bright fumes at VAR controversy after last-gasp defeat

Sarina Wiegman, manager of England, looks on prior to the UEFA Women's Nations League Group A match against the Netherlands (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

England laboured to a 2-1 victory over Scotland in their first Nations League match and in Utrecht, Wiegman’s side found themselves overwhelmed by a relentless Dutch press coupled by a lack of personnel in the injured Keira Walsh, Leah Williamson and Beth Mead.

Wiegman said of the result: “It was tough to take because it was so unnecessary. We really gave it away in the last few minutes.

“There were two halves. In the first half we didn’t get the press we wanted. They didn’t create many chances but there was some dangerous moments. The second half I think we dominated the game. They had to go back and didn’t create the press they wanted to. I hoped we would score a little bit more.”