Canada head coach John Herdman made headlines following his team’s 1-0 loss to Belgium on Wednesday, headlines in a Croatian newspaper jumped. The Canadians played very well against one of the World Cup favourites, but failed to score any points on the night. Herdman also made an interesting speech to his players after the game.
The coach was then interviewed and asked what he had to say to his team after the disappointing loss. “I told them they belong here. And we’re going to go and F Croatia,” Herdman said. “That’s as simple as it sounds.”
Herdman’s comments obviously did not go down well in Croatia. 24sata, a daily from the country’s capital, Zagreb, put the Canadian coach on the front page with an interesting style. Alongside a mock photo of Herdman, the headline reads: “You’ve got the mouth, but do you also have the balls?”
Following the backlash, Herdman clarified his comments. “I mean, you say those things in a passionate moment trying to inspire your team in a meeting,” Herdman said. “And when they ask you a question ‘What did you say in that meeting?’ That is what I said. It is not very respectful towards the Croatian people and the Croatian national team”.
“I understand very well where we are on the world stage, but at that point you enter the next place, you take your team to the next place that we are here in order not to be afraid and bring everything we have to that game.
Canada manager doesn’t want to disrespect Croatia after newspaper headline
Herdman insisted that he intended to hurt or disrespect with his comments, but also stated that this is the mindset his team needs.
“I don’t want to disrespect the Croatian team and the Croatian people, but at the end of the day it’s a mindset that Canada will have if we’re going to have three points against one of the best teams in the world,” Herdman. continued. “And it is the mentality that we bring to Belgium. We have to; it’s part of ‘New Canada.’”
Canada and Croatia meet on Sunday, November 27. The contest already had transcendent forecasts. Now, there are even more reasons to watch.
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