Croatian tabloid 24sata took aim at Canada’s John Herdman on Friday after the manager told his team they would “outrun Croatia” in their next game after losing to Belgium on Wednesday.
Herdman clarified Thursday that the comment was meant to set the mindset for Canada and not disparage the 2018 finalists, but it apparently didn’t sit well with the Croatian outlet.
Covered only with a maple leaf over his mouth and another over his waist, the otherwise naked Herdman was featured on the cover of 24sata with the caption: “You have a mouth (tongue), but do you also have balls?” as translated by Juraj Vrdoljak on Twitter.
You officially arrived on the world stage when you were naked (*🍁 without) in a Croatian tabloid.
— James Duthie (@tsnjamesduthie) November 25, 2022
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Canada plays Croatia on Sunday at 10:45 a.m. ET and you can see it LIVE on the TSN Network, on TSN.ca and the TSN app.
Herdman was asked by members of the Croatian media on Thursday if he had made a “derogatory statement” about the European country.
“I mean, you say these things in a moment of passion, trying to inspire your team in a huddle. And when you’re asked the question, “What did you say at that meeting?” That’s what I said, Herdman replied.
“This is not a massive respect for the Croatian people and the Croatian national team. I understand very well where we are on the world stage, but at this point you’re stepping into the next place, you’re taking your team to the next place, where we’re here to be fearless and bring everything we’ve got to this game.”
ContentId(1.1883339): Herdman explains Croatia’s comment: ‘You say these things in a moment of passion’
“I don’t want to be disrespectful to the Croatian team and the Croatian people, but at the end of the day, that’s the mindset that Canada is going to have if we want to have 3 points against one of the best teams in the world,” Herdman added. “And that’s the mindset we took to Belgium. We have to; it’s part of the ‘New Canada’.”
Despite Wednesday’s loss, Canada had 22 shots compared to Belgium’s nine and by many accounts looked like the more dangerous side for most of the game. Michy Batshuayi scored in the 44th minute to lead the Red Devils to a narrow victory.
Belgium entered the tournament as the No. 2 men’s team in the world. Head coach Roberto Martinez said he was “satisfied” his side managed to pull out a win while not living up to their potential.
Croatia also go into Sunday’s game looking for their first win after playing Morocco to a 0-0 draw in their Group F opener on Wednesday.
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