Canada-Croatia controversy: How Canadian coach’s ‘we will eff them’ remark led to a full-page naked image taunt in Croatian tabloid
On an on-field interview, Canada’s coach John Herdman said, “I told them they belong here. And we’re going to go and eff Croatia,” the coach said with a smile, using a single letter F to avoid a televised profanity. “That’s as simple as it gets.” It didn’t stay that simple, though.
How did the Croatian coach react?
He used the word “respect” 13 times in a 90-second answer. “This way of putting words together is not a sign of respect,” he said through a translator. “The way we play, the way we behave and the way we respect all others are the reasons we are worthy of respect.”
Croatia’s winger Ivan Perisic, who was sitting next to his coach, said : “I second the head coach and I cannot wait for the match to begin.”
What’s this naked-image business?
Croatia’s 24 Sata (24 Hours) tabloid ran a full page picture of a naked Herdman with Maple Leaf flags over his mouth and private parts. And the headline was the clincher :a “You have the mouth, but do you have the b***s as well?”
Croatian tabloids seem quite unforgiving towards Herdman, putting him on the cover despite Dalić’s claim that ‘Croatia will speak on the pitch’.
“You have the mouth (tongue)”, this one says, next to the, well, stripped Herdman. “But do you have the balls as well?” pic.twitter.com/Z7b4Ncdomk
— Juraj Vrdoljak (@JurajVrdoljak) November 25, 2022
Has the Canadian coach reacted to it?
He did, with a sense of humour. “When you get a text from your wife telling me you need to start working out before you get home, yeah, you think you know something’s going on,” Herdman said.
”My wife’s coming after you guys,” he told a reporter of that tabloid with a laugh. “She wishes she got that guy. I’ve got a bit more of a belly than that. I’ve been eating too much.”
Does the Canadian coach have any connection with Croatia?
His son was a member of a Croatian club Dynamo’s youth team for couple of years. Herdman, the coach, has often travelled to the city of Zagreb.
“I traveled to Zagreb for three years for my son, and we waited 36 years for this – I don’t think that we lost unnecessary energy because of that [his remark]. The way we work is important, our mission is important. We’ve waited 36 years to get here, there’s no greater motivation than that. On the other side, Modrić , Kovačić, Brozović are waiting for us … It will be a wonderful match.
“Excellent football is played in Croatia . One higher level, you are tactically great,” Herdman would say.
