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Kroos criticizes offside call that benefited Real Madrid vs. Bayern

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BERLIN (AP) — Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos criticized match officials for their controversial offside call which benefited his team against Bayern Munich during the Champions League semifinals.

Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt thought he’d equalized to send last week’s game to extra time when he fired the ball into Madrid’s net in the 13th minute of stoppage time.

But referee Szymon Marciniak had already blown his whistle after his assistant quickly raised his flag for a possible offside infringement.

Too quickly, Kroos said Wednesday.

“It’s bad handling. You have to let play continue,” the Germany player said in a podcast he runs with his brother Felix. “I think the mistake is primarily the linesman’s.”

Bayern was trailing 2-1 and needed a goal to force extra time to keep alive its hopes of reaching the final. UEFA tells match officials not to stop play immediately for tight offside calls. And TV replays showed it was a very close call.

“If he raises the flag now, the referee assumes that his linesman sees it exactly that way and trusts him that it was probably three meters offside,” said Kroos, who said he understood Bayern’s frustrations. “The anger is justified because you just have to play the situation to the end, 100%.”

Kroos said he was unsure if Madrid defenders would have stopped De Ligt’s shot had there not been an intervention from the referee.

“I don’t know if there was a collective switching off because you could hear the whistle very early,” Kroos said. “You could tell the tension dropped among everyone who wanted to defend this goal.”

Madrid won the second leg 2-1 to reach the final in London on June 1. Borussia Dortmund will try to stop the Spanish giant from claiming its 15th European title.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

NFL

Hendrickson committed to Cincy after trade ask

  • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterMay 14, 2024, 02:10 PM ET

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      Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports.
      He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs.
      A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI — Trey Hendrickson was all smiles after Tuesday’s offseason workout.

After a tumultuous offseason that featured a trade request, the Cincinnati Bengals’ star pass-rusher was firm in his desire to play for the team this season.

“That’s a no-brainer,” Hendrickson said. “I mean, I love this team. I’m in great shape. It’s good to see the guys.”

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The three-time Pro Bowl selection rejoined the group this week for the team’s voluntary offseason workout program. Hendrickson, who was second in the NFL in sacks created last season and tied for second in total sacks (17.5), had asked for a trade after the Bengals declined to give him a long-term deal. Last summer, he added an extra year to his contract through the end of the 2025 season.

The move netted him an extra $5 million in salary last year but didn’t have an impact on his 2024 salary or alleviate concerns about the future. Hendrickson said that when he and his agent, Harold Lewis, met with the Bengals to inquire about either a long-term deal or a trade, the answer from Cincinnati’s front office was “pretty firm.”

“You kind of hope for the best,” Hendrickson said. “[In], football, you get what you earn in some ways and in other ways, there’s a business side of it.”

The 29-year-old has been one of the league’s best edge rushers since the Bengals signed him in 2021 to a four-year deal worth $60 million. He has 40.5 sacks since, the fifth-highest total during that span, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Bengals defensive tackle

“You just can’t take it personally,” Hill said. “You got to remember there’s also the business side of it as well.”

Hendrickson said that like others inside the building, coach Zac Taylor was supportive as he navigated the contract situation. He also said he understood why Cincinnati’s front office stood firm in keeping the current terms of his deal intact.

And on his side of things, he had no regrets about taking the one-year extension last season.

“My goal was to play here longer,” Hendrickson said. “So, when they offered me a chance to play for Cincinnati another year, I took it. I would take it again.

“I’m not asking for a great business decision. I know that asking ownership, there’s not a lot of ways to cut it. I just know what I can do and how I can do it. And I think my tape has proven that over the last four years as a starter.”