Porteus suspended two matches for horror foul, Nevin demands apology to Gündogan

The foul on German captain Ilkay Gündogan that saw Scotland tender Ryan Porteus sent off on a straight red card just before half-time in Friday night's Euro 2024 opener remains one of the biggest talking points of the young competition. Four days into the continental showpiece, football fans everywhere are still talking about the foul. Porteus caught both Gündogan's shin and abkle with both his studs-up feet. 

One Monday, UEFA confirmed that the Watford defender would be suspended for the duration of the group phase. Scotland's tournament may still continue beyond the next two fixtures of course, given that four points (one win and one draw) are generally sufficient to send teams through to the knockouts in 24 team tournaments. The Braveheart's will almost certainly need more than one more win, given their goal differential situation. 

Scottish footballing legend Pat Nevin - a force in football both as a player and in his post-retirement career as a broadcaster and commentator - has publicly called for Porteus to apologize to Gündogan in his column for the BBC. Nevin noted that the team owed the entire nation an apology for their opening round performance before singling out Porteus directly. 

"It was a horrifying tackle," Nevin wrote,  "Hopefully I’m fair-minded enough that, when I saw the replay, I wanted him sent off. I don’t want to see a tackle like that happen to anyone. The first thing he should do is apologise to Ilkay Gundogan. The red mist comes down and he does it out of desperation, but you can’t do that. Your team-mates are knackered now after chasing shadows."