Manuel Ugarte was booked twice but not sent off in England’s game against Uruguay, with Ian Wright claiming the referee’s controversial decision on refereeing night was a “halfway decision”.
The Uruguayan was given a yellow card in the 71st minute for a foul on Cole Palmer and was booked again 10 minutes later for a challenge after Ben White’s opener.
A red card should have been shown, but German referee Sven Jablonski kept it in his pocket.
England defender Harry Maguire said of the incident: “We had heard that Ugarte was shown two yellow cards and the second one was rescinded, but this is new for us. Now we’ve been told that the first yellow card for Ugarte was actually for (José María) Jimenez. So it wasn’t two yellow cards, there was no yellow card for Ugarte.”
Former England striker Wright told ITV: “They’re picking themselves up as they go, as if they hadn’t seen what we were seeing. Ugarte was the challenge to Palmer, but it looked like the opposition was over as well.”
Ben White was booed by England fans after scoring and conceded a penalty in a 1-1 draw.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Manager Thomas Tuchel said he was disappointed to hear boos towards Ben White at Wembley during England’s draw with Uruguay.
Manager Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with the referee’s response after VAR failed to intervene after Ronald Araujo’s reckless challenge on Phil Foden, before VAR intervened and awarded Uruguay a penalty for a foul on Whyte in stoppage time.
“I didn’t think it was a good performance at all,” Tuchel said of the referee.
“There was a discussion about a player who received two yellows during the match but was not sent off. It was a bad day at the office (for the referee).”
“It’s a very soft penalty. Of course there’s contact, but it’s clear what the striker is trying to do.”
“This is to overturn the decision when the referee reveals that he saw it.
“I was surprised that VAR was in place. I thought it wasn’t working. Foden’s tackle wasn’t even checked. Noni’s tackle wasn’t even checked. And then suddenly our tackle was being checked.”
Tuchel satisfied with team performance
Tuchel said of how England’s junior players fared in the 1-1 draw:
“I liked the positivity, the attitude, the performance.
“Everyone was always ready to respond to our questions. It was a very tactical match.
“At the moment when we were doing very well, we didn’t achieve our goal of giving the game a little more freedom. We didn’t have enough of a boost, but we kept trying.
“I learned a lot. It was a tough opponent. You can learn a lot about the details.
“When you play against Ugarte and Valverde, you can see the level.
“We needed this kind of testing, and we’re glad we were able to test it the way we did.”
What’s next for England?
On Tuesday, England host Japan in a friendly at Wembley. Kickoff at 7:45 p.m.
It will be manager Thomas Tuchel’s last chance to watch his players on an international stage before announcing his World Cup squad at the end of the season.
England will then play World Cup warm-up matches against New Zealand and Costa Rica before opening the tournament against Croatia on June 17th.
