The controversy behind Sterling's penalty win

Harry Kane sent England into uncharted waters on Wednesday when he scored to propel England past Denmark into the Euro 2020 final.

His effort from the rebound off his initially-saved penalty in extra time to send his country into their first-ever European Championship final. It was also England's first-ever major tournament final after the 1966 World Cup final. 

Kane tied Gary Lineker's record for the most combined England goals at European Championships and World Cups, but his extra-time winner against Denmark came with huge controversy. It was Raheem Sterling who initially won the penalty which sparked the controversy.

Sterling dashed through Denmark's defense in the first half of extra time, twisting past a couple of defenders. However, he appeared to go down under a challenge from Joakim Maehle and the referee promptly pointed to the penalty spot. 

VAR, understandably, had a look at the incident and upheld the decision much to the furor of the Danish defenders. Kane promptly stepped up for the spot-kick but had to convert the rebound after Kasper Schmeichel saved his initial effort.

Though Sterling has after the match claimed that he felt contact, the replays showed if there was one, it was extremely minimal. The Manchester City forward appeared to be falling down even before Maehle had tried to challenge him. 

Surprisingly, VAR did not ask the referee to come and look at the monitor to make his mind up, and that caused considerable confusion among fans and pundits alike. 

Many leading experts, including former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and current AS Roma boss Jose Mourinho, have stated that it was not a penalty at all while numerous fans stated that Sterling dived. Understandably, the incident also gave rise to trolls. 

However, the controversy did not stop at that. 

While the main point of debate was around the merit of the penalty, there was also controversy over the fact that there were two balls on the field in the build-up to the penalty.

While Sterling dribbled his way into the box from the right-wing, there was another ball lying inside the playing field which further caused a furor among fans. 

While the Fifa rule states that if the second ball (or stray ball) was not interfering with the play, the referee is not bound to stop the game. However, fans took to social media to debate the same and some felt that the ball was interfering with the move.

Why VAR didn't overturn the decision

England's controversial penalty against Denmark wasn't overturned by VAR as referee Danny Makkelie's decision to penalise Jannik Vestergaard for making contact with Raheem Sterling couldn't be deemed a clear and obvious error.

Vestergaard made minimal contact with Manchester City winger Sterling, but because the on-field decision went in England's favor, the VAR official was not in a position to overturn the original verdict.

As former Premier League referee Peter Walton explained on ITV: 'It has to be a clear and obvious error, there's also an upper body check by the Danish defender I think this is a penalty and VAR is checking it.

'Keep in mind it has to be a clear and obvious error for an on-field decision to be changed.'

'He gets a touch on it, does he clip his heels on the same attempt?' added former England international, Lee Dixon. 'He puts his foot in I'm not so sure there's an awful lot of contact. Don't get too excited.

'The referee is spot on there as far as his vision, does his foot make contact, can't see any there. Doesn't look as though it his right foot

To rub salt into Denmark's wounds, Kasper Schmeichel saved Harry Kane's effort, but the ball rolled back into the striker's path and he had the simple task of blasting the ball past the stranded goalkeeper.