Before England faced Italy in the European Championship final, almost everyone knew that Jorginho was going to be the key man for the Azzurri.
While the English players were not particularly successful in stopping the Chelsea midfielder but some people have claimed that Jorginho should not have been on the pitch as he narrowly escaped a red card.
Jorginho was one of the Italian players who missed his spot-kick during the shootout but according to Jermaine Jenas, the midfielder should have been sent off after his challenge on Jack Grealish.
Grealish was on the receiving end of a reckless challenge from the Chelsea midfielder during the 113th minute and as per Jenas, Jorginho should have been shown a straight red.
“His foot deflects off the ball and catches Jack right on the top of his knee,” Jenas said during BBC commentary, as quoted by Football365.
“He’s [Grealish] is fuming. It’s not a great challenge, it’s a poor challenge, he’s gone with his studs, it’s a shocking challenge in the end.
“Seeing it over and over again and the angle he’s gone in with his studs. It’s a terrible challenge.
“When I saw him [Jorginho] get up and then throw himself back down to the ground I thought, ‘you’ve done something wrong here’.”
Jorginho very smartly kept rolling on the ground to give the impression that it was not a very controlled challenge and in the end, he was fortunate enough to walk away with only a yellow card.
Even his former manager Frank Lampard admitted that such a challenge would have resulted in a sending off in the Premier League.
“It feels like it follows on from VAR,” Lampard told the BBC.
Should Jorginho have been sent off for this tackle on Grealish? 🤔#ENG #ITA #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/cM5J1QiwAi
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 11, 2021
“There’s been a lot of good things about VAR, but I’m pretty sure in the Premier League that gets looked at on the monitor and it’s a red card.
“It’s not always easy to nail them straight away. But I think it’s a red card when you see it there.”
Jorginho did not have the best of outings in the final but the defensive midfielder made sure that players like Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling did not manage to run behind the central defenders at every given opportunity.
The midfielder played until the final whistle and in these 120 minutes, he managed to make 95 accurate passes out of which 62 came in the opposition half. This control was partly because England backed off and decided to protect their 1-0 lead rather than put pressure on Jorginho.
Stats courtesy Fotmob & Whoscored.
