Ivory Coast boss Emerse Fae said he was saddened by comments made by former World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger, which he perceived as ‘racist’.
Ivory Coast played Germany in their second World Cup group game, falling to a 2-1 defeat after a late winner from substitute Deniz Undav.
However, the fallout from the encounter was dominated by controversial comments made by ex-German international Schweinsteiger about the Ivorians’ playing style.
Speaking before the game on German broadcaster ARD, Schweinsteiger, who won the World Cup in 2014, suggested that Ivory Coast would be ‘wild’ and ‘unpredictable’ and ‘not so conditioned by tactics’.
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‘A bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps also not so conditioned by tactics,’ he said. ‘We must be prepared for it to be unpredictable.’
Fae was asked about Schweinsteiger’s comments after guiding Ivory Coast in the World Cup knockouts for the first time in their history after a 2-0 win over Curacao.
And the 42-year-old, who guided his country to AFCON glory in 2023, said he was disappointed by the German’s ‘clumsy’ comments that he felt were based on long-standing biases regarding African football.
‘I think it’s sad,’ Fae said. ‘Schweinsteiger was a very good player; I have always loved him as a midfielder and the way he understood football. When I heard his comments, I was disappointed in the man.
‘It is odd he would speak that way. We could call it racist, if we were calling a spade a spade.
‘I don’t agree with him, but I have no other solution other than to work with things as they are. All I can show is that on the pitch African teams are not just physical, we are technical and tactical.
‘I can only hope it is a clumsy statement, rather than something going on in his mind. If that’s what he thinks, he is free to do so.
‘But we also know that there are lots of former players who become pundits and they’re all looking to create some controversy.
‘He was a worldwide star and maybe he was thinking that people have forgotten him. I don’t know but we’ll move forward and try to forget what he said.’
Schweinsteiger’s comments drew plenty of debate among the German media, with former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp refusing to answer a question on the topic.
‘Now you want to carry on the subject,’ he told reporters in New York. ‘No, no, I have no chance. I have no chance to answer this question.
‘Everybody likes it so you bring me in this situation. It’s not my job that everybody likes it, but this is a serious subject, and I don’t even know what is appropriate to say.
‘For African people it’s one thing, for other people it’s another thing, and I’m not here.’
Ivory Coast are set to face France or Norway in the first knockout round on June 30 in Texas, while Germany are projected to face Paraguay in Boston on June 29.
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